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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




THE RAIL-SPLITTER 



FOOTPRINTS 

OF 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



PRESENTING 

Many Interesting Facts, Reminiscences 

and Illustrations Never Before 

Published 



J. T. HOBSON, D.D., LL.B., 

Author of "The Lincoln Year Book." 



Nineteen Hundred and Nine 

The Otterbein Press 

Dayton, Ohio 






^Q> t & 



__— - 



COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY J. T. HOBSON 



APR 23 1809 




THE AUTHOR. 



DEDICATION 



To all my Kindred, Friends, and Acquaintances among 

whom are Fellow Ministers, Teachers, Students, 

Pupils, and Parishio?iers, though Widely 

Scattered, and to All Who Cherish 

the Memory of 

&bta|)am JLintoln 

The Apostle of Human Liberty, Who Bound the Nation 

and Unbound the Slave, This Little Volume 

is Respectfully Dedicated by 

THE AUTHOR 



INTRODUCTION 



Everything pertaining to the life of Abraham Lincoln is 
of undying interest to the public. 

It may at first appear unnecessary, if not presumptuous, 
to add another volume to the already large number of 
books in Lincoln literature. Hitherto efforts have been 
made by the biographer, the historian, and the relic-hunter 
to gather everything possible connected with the life of 
Lincoln. 

If an apology is needed in presenting this volume to the 
public, it may be said that it has fallen as a rare oppor- 
tunity to the author, during the passing years, to gather 
some well-authenticated facts, reminiscences, and illustra- 
tions which have never before appeared in connection with 
the history of this great man. 

Like many others, I have always taken great interest in 
the life and work of Abraham Lincoln. There are some 
special reasons for this, upon my part, aside from my 
interest in the lives of great men, and the magnetic charm 
which surrounds the name and fame of the most eminent 
American and emancipator of a race. 

The name, "Abraham Lincoln," is connected with my 
family history, and with one of my first achievements with 
pen and ink. Because of an affliction in early life, I was, 
for two or three years, unable to attend the public schools. 
At home I learned to make figures and letters with slate 
and pencil, as other writing material was not so common 
then as now. The first line I ever wrote with pen and ink 
was at home, at the age of ten, under a copy on foolscap 
paper, written by my sainted mother, "Abraham Lincoln, 
President, 1861." 

After the birth of John the Baptist, there was consider- 
able controversy among the kinsfolk as to what name he 
should bear. The father, old Zacharias, was appealed to, 



Introduction 

and when writing material was brought him, he settled 
the matter by writing, "John." On the 7th of May, 1863, 
when a boy baby was born in our old home, the other 
children and I were very anxious to know what name 
would be given the little stranger. We appealed to father. 
He did not say, but called for the old family Bible, pen 
and ink. He turned to the "Family Record," between the 
Old and the New Testaments. I stood by and saw him* 
write, with pen and blue ink, the name, "Abraham Lincoln 
Hobson." 

I was born in due time to have the good fortune to 
become acquainted with a number of persons who person- 
ally knew Mr. Lincoln in his early life in Indiana, and 
heard them tell of their associations with him, and their 
words were written down at the time. I am also familiar 
with many places cf historic interest where the feet of 
Abraham Lincoln pressed the earth. I resided for a time 
near the old Lincoln farm in Spencer County, Indiana, on 
which the town of Lincoln City now stands. I have often 
visited the near-by grave of Nancy Hanks Lincoln, the 
"angel mother" of the martyred President; have stood by 
the grave of Sally Grigsby, his only sister, at the Little 
Pigeon Cemetery, one mile and a half south of the Lincoln 
farm; have been in the Lincoln home at Springfield, Illi- 
nois; have seen Ford's Theater building, in AVashington, 
where he was shot; have stood in the little rear room, in 
the first story of the house across the street, where he 
died; have been in the East Room of the White House, 
where his body lay in state; and have reverently stood at 
his tomb where his precious dust rests in peace in Oak 
Ridge Cemetery, at Springfield, Illinois. 

This volume can hardly claim the dignity of a biography, 
for many important facts in the life of Mr. Lincoln are 
omitted, the object being to set forth some unpublished 
facts, reminiscences, and illustrations to supplement larger 
histories written by others. However, it was necessary to 
refer to some well-known facts in order to properly connect 
the new material never before in print. It was necessary, 
in some instances, to correct some matters of Lincoln his- 
tory which later and more authentic information has re- 
vealed. 

5 



Introduction 

The illustrations were secured mainly for this publica- 
tion, and none, so far as I know, except the frontispiece, 
has ever appeared in any other book on Lincoln. I am 
indebted to a number of persons who have assisted me in 
securing information and photographs, most of whom are 
mentioned in the body of the book. 

This being the centennial year of Abraham Lincoln's 
birth, it is with feelings of genuine pleasure and profound 
reverence that the opportunity is here given me to exhibit 
some "footprints" from the path of one whose life is 
imprinted in imperishable characters in the history of the 
great American republic. The excellent principles and 
noble conduct that characterized his life should be an 
inspiration to all. As Longfellow says: 

"Lives of great men all remind us 
We can make our lives sublime, 
And, departing, leave behind, us 
Footprints in the sands of time." 

J. T. Hobson. 
Lake City, Iowa, February 19, 1909. 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Abraham Lincoln. 

The Author. 

Jacob S. Brother, who when a boy lived in the Kentucky 
Lincoln cabin. 

United Brethren Church on Indiana Lincoln farm. 

Rev. Allen Brooner, an associate of Lincoln in Indiana. 

Mr. and Mrs. Captain Lamar, who knew Lincoln in Indiana. 

Honorable James Gentry, of Indiana. 

Elizabeth Grigsby, one of the double wedding brides in 
Indiana. 

Ruth Jennings Huff, daughter of Josiah Crawford. 

Rifle Gun owned jointly by Lincoln and Brooner in Indiana. 

David Turnham, the Indiana Constable, and wife. 

George W. Turnham, son of David Turnham. 

William D. Armstrong, defended by Lincoln in 1858. 

Hannah Armstrong, who boarded Lincoln; he later de- 
fended her son. 

Walker and Lacey, associated with Lincoln in the Arm- 
strong case. 

Moses Martin, still living, signed Lincoln's temperance 
pledge in 1847. 

Major J. B. Merwin, still living, campaigned Illinois with 
Lincoln for prohibition in 1854-55. 

Rev. R. L. McCord, who named Lincoln as his choice for 
President, in 1854. 

Site of the old still-house in Indiana, where Lincoln worked. 

Triplets, yet living, named by Abraham Lincoln. 



CHRONOLOGY 



Born in Hardin (now Larue) County, Kentucky, February 

12, 1809. 
Moved to Spencer County, Indiana, in 1816. 
His mother, Nancy, died October 5, 1818, aged 35 years. 
His father married Sarah Bush Johnson, 1819. 
Moved to Illinois, March, 1830. 
Captain in Black Hawk War, in 1832. 
Appointed postmaster at New Salem, Illinois, in 1833. 
Elected to Illinois Legislature in 1834, 1836, 1838, 1840. 
Admitted to the bar in 1837. 
Presidential elector on Whig ticket, 1840, 1844. 
Married to Miss Mary Todd, November 4, 1842. 
Elected to Congress in 1846, 1848. 

His father, Thomas, died January 17, 1851, aged 73 years. 
Canvassed Illinois for State prohibition in 1855. 
Debated with Stephen A. Douglas in 1858. 
Nominated for President at Chicago, May 16, 1860. 
Elected President, November 6, 1860. 
Inaugurated President, March 4, 1861. 
Issued call for 75,000 volunteers, April 15, 1861. 
Issued Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863. 
His address at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, November 19, 

1863. 
Renominated for President at Baltimore, June, 1864. 
Reelected President, November 8, 1864. 
Reinaugurated President, March 4, 1865. 
Shot by John Wilkes Booth, April 14, 1865. 
Died April 15, 1865. 
Buried at Springfield, Illinois, May 3, 1865. 



CONTENTS 



Dedication 3 

Introduction 4 

Illustrations 7 

Chronology of Abraham Lincoln 8 

CHAPTER I. 
Lincoln's Birth and Early Life in Kentucky. 
Unpromising Cradles — Site of the Log Cabin — Tangled 
History Untangled — Jacob S. Brother's Statement — 
Speaking with Authority — The Lincolns Move to Knob 
Creek — "The Lincoln Farm Association" - - - 13 

CHAPTER II. 

The Lincolns Move to Indiana. 
Early Hardships — "Milk Sickness" — Death of Lincoln's 
Mother — Henry and Allen Brooner's Recollections — 
Second Marriage of Thomas Lincoln — Marriage of 
Sarah Lincoln — Redmond D. Grigsby's Recollec- 
tions — Death of Sarah Grigsby — Mrs. Lamar's Rec- 
ollections — Captain Lamar's Interesting Reminis- 
cences — Honorable James Gentry Interviewed - - 17 

CHAPTER III. 
Indiana Associates and Incidents. 
The Double Wedding — One of the Brides Interviewed — 
"The Chronicles of Reuben" — Josiah Crawford's 
Daughter — The Lincoln-Brooner Rifle Gun — David 
Turnham, the Indiana Constable — The "Revised 
Statutes of Indiana" 26 

9 



Contents 

CHAPTER IV. 
The Emigration to Illinois. 
Preparations for Removal — Recollections of Old Ac- 
quaintances — The Old Indiana Home — Blocks from 
the Old House — The Cedar Tree — More Tangled His- 
tory Untangled — Mr. Jones' Store — Various Experi- 
ences in Illinois — Recollections of an Old Friend - 32 

CHAPTER V. 
Lincoln Visits the Old Indiana Home. 
Lincoln an Admirer of Henry Clay — A Whig Elector — 
Goes to Indiana — Makes Speeches — Old Friends and 
Old-Time Scenes — Writes a Poem - - - - 36 

CHAPTER VI. 
Lincoln and the Armstrong Case. 
Famous Law Cases — The Clary Grove Boys — The 
Wrestling Contest — Jack and Hannah Armstrong — 
Trial of Their Son for Murder — Lincoln's Tact, and 
the Acquittal — Letters from the Surviving Attorney 
in the Case — More Tangled History Untangled — 
Unpublished Facts Connected with Parties in the 
Case 39 

CHAPTER VII. 
Lincoln's Temperance Principles. 
Promise Made to His Mother — Writes a Temperance 
Article Before Leaving Indiana — Mr. Wood and Mr. 
Farmer — Did Lincoln Sell Whisky — His Great Tem- 
perance Address — Testimony of Associates — Moses 
Martin's Letter — The Internal Revenue Bill - - 51 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Lincoln as a Prohibitionist. 

Major J. B. Merwin and Abraham Lincoln — They 

Together Canvass Illinois for State Prohibition in 

1854-55 — Lincoln's Arguments Against the Saloon — 

Facts Omitted by Lincoln Biographers — President 

10 



Contents 

Lincoln, Generals Scott and Butler Recommend Mer- 
win's Temperance Work in the Army — The President 
-Sends Merwin on a Mission to New York the Day of 
the Assassination — Proposition for Freedmen to Dig 
the Panama Canal — Lincoln's Last Words to Mer- 
win — Merwin's Characteristic Address at Lincoln's 
Tomb — "Lincoln the Christian Statesman" — Merwin 
Living at Middlefield, Connecticut - - - - 57 

CHAPTER IX. 

LlXCOLX AND THE SLAVERY QUESTION. 

An Ancient Institution — The Evils of Slavery — Lincoln 
Always Opposed to Slavery — Relic of "Cruel Slavery 
Days" — Discussions, Laws, and Compromises — The 
Missouri Compromise — The Fugitive Slave Law — The 
Kansas-Nebraska Bill — Lincoln Aroused — He An- 
swers Douglas — R. L. McCord Names Lincoln as His 
Candidate for President — A New Political Party — 
"Bleeding Kansas" — The Dred Scott Decision — "The 
Underground Railroad" — The John Brown Raid — The 
Approaching Crisis 68 

CHAPTER X. 
The Lincoln axd Douglas Debates. 
Candidates for the United States Senate — Seven Joint 
Debates — The Paramount Issue — The "Divided 
House" — "Acts of a Drama" — Douglas Charged Lin- 
coln with Selling Whisky — Lincoln's Denial — A Dis- 
covery — Site of the Old Still House in Indiana — 
Douglas Elected — Lincoln the Champion of Human 
Liberty 77 

CHAPTER XI. 
Lixcolx Nomixated axd Elected President. 
Rival Candidates — Great Enthusiasm — Lincoln's Tem- 
perance Principles Exemplified — Other Nominations — 
A Great Campaign — Lincoln's Letter to David Turn- 
ham — Lincoln's Election — Secession — Lincoln Inaug- 
urated — Douglas 83 

11 



Contents 

CHAPTER XII. 
President Lincoln and the Civil War. 
The Beginning — Personal Recollections — The War 
Spirit — Progress of the War — The Emancipation 
Proclamation — A Fight to Finish — Lincoln's Kind- 
ness — He Relieves a Young Soldier — He Names 
Triplets Who Are Yet Living — His Reelection — The 
Fall of Richmond — Appomattox — Close of the Re- 
bellion 87 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Death of President Lincoln. 
Personal Recollections — The Tragic Event — Mr. Stan- 
ton — A Nation in Sorrow— The Funeral— The Inter- 
ment at Springfield, Illinois — The House in Which 
President Lincoln Died — Changed Conditions — The 
South Honors Lincoln — A United People — A Rich 
Inheritance 93 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Unpublished Official Documents. 
A Discovery — Documents of Historic Value — Lincoln 
Owned Land in Iowa — Copy of Letters Patent from 
United States, under James Buchanan, to Abraham 
Lincoln, in 1860— Copy of Deed Executed by Honor- 
able Robert T. Lincoln and Wife, in 1892 — Other 
Transfers— The Present Owner 100 

CHAPTER XV. 
Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of 
Lincoln's Birth. 
Preparations — General Observance — President Roose- 
velt Lays Corner-stone of Lincoln Museum at Lin- 
coln's Birthplace — Extracts from Addresses at Various 
Places — Closing Tribute 105 



12 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 



CHAPTER I. 
Lincoln's Birth and Early Life in Kentucky 

Unpromising Cradles — Site of the Log Cabin — Tangled History 
Untangled — Jacob S. Brother's Statement — Speaking with 
Authority— The Lincolns Move to Knob Creek — The Lincoln 
Farm Association. 

It has been said truly that God selects unpromising 
cradles for his greatest and best servants. On a cold 
winter night, a hundred years ago, in a noorless log 
cabin, the emancipator of a race was born. Like the 
Redeemer of mankind, there was "no room" in the 
mansions of the rich and the great for such a child to 
be born. 

Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, natives of Vir- 
ginia, were married by Rev. Jesse Head, a minister of 
the Methodist Church, June 12, 1806, near Beechland, 
Washington County, Kentucky. They settled at Eliza- 
bethtown, Hardin County, where their first child, Sarah, 
was born, February 10, 1807. In 1808 they moved to 
a farm containing one hundred and ten acres, on the 
south fork of Nolin Creek, two miles south of Hodgen- 
ville, Hardin County, and fifty miles south of Louisville. 
Hodgenville afterward became, and is now the county- 
seat of Larue County, as that part of the territory now 
embraced in Larue County was set off from Hardin 
County in 1843. Here, on the twelfth of February, 
1809, Abraham Lincoln was born. 

13 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

The Hodgenville and Magnolia public highway runs 
through the farm. The site of the bid log cabin in 
which Lincoln was born is about five hundred yards 
west of the road, and a short distance from the well- 
known "Rock Spring." The old Kirkpatrick mill, on 
Nolin Creek, is but a short distance away. The cabin, 
of course, is no longer in existence, although various 
publications have printed pictures of it, as though it 
were still standing on the original spot. Misleading 
statements have also been published that the original 
cabin has been placed on exhibition in various cities. 
Other publications, with more caution, have pictured 
it as the alleged log cabin in which Lincoln was born. 

Evidence is here introduced to untangle tangled his- 
tory. Jacob S. Brother, now in his ninetieth year, 
resides at Rockport, the county-seat of Spencer County, 
Indiana, on the Ohio River, fifteen miles south of 
Lincoln City, the site of the Lincoln farm in Indiana. 
Mr. Brother is a highly-respected Christian gentleman. 
I have known him for many years. On the thirtieth 
of March, 1899, when visiting him, he incidentally told 
me that his father purchased the Lincoln farm in Ken- 
tucky, and that the family lived in the cabin in which 
Abraham Lincoln was born. On the eighth of Septem- 
ber, 1903, I again visited him, and, at my request, he 
gave a fuller statement, which I wrote out, and then 
read it to him, all of which he said was correct, and is 
here submitted: 

"My name is Jacob S. Brother. My father's name was 
Henry, but he was generally known as 'Harry.' I was born 
in Montgomery County, Kentucky, March 8, 1819. In the 
year 1827, when I was eight years old, my father pur- 
chased the old farm on which Abraham Lincoln was born, 

14 



Lincoln s Birth and Early Life 

in Kentucky. He purchased it of Henry Thomas. We 
lived in the house in which Lincoln was born. After some 
years, my father built another house almost like the first 
house. The old house was torn down, and, to my knowl- 
edge, the logs were burned for fire-wood. Later he built a 
hewed log house, and the second old house was used as a 
hatter-shop. My father followed the trade of making hats 
all his life. The pictures we often see of the house in 
which Lincoln was born are pictures of the first house 
built by my father. He died in the hewed log house, and 
my youngest brother, Joseph, was born in the same house 
three weeks after father's death. Some time after father's 
death, mother, I, and the other children moved to near 
St. Joe, Missouri. The brother born on the Lincoln farm 
enlisted in the Southern army, and was captured at Look- 
out Mountain, and taken to Camp Morton, Indianapolis, 
as a prisoner. My oldest brother, George, who was a 
surgeon in the Union army, went to Washington City to 
see President Lincoln, in order to get a reprieve for his 
brother. Among other things, he told the President that 
his brother and he (the President) were born on the same 
farm. I do not know how much weight this had with the 
President, but my brother was reprieved. I left Missouri 
to avoid going into the Confederate army, and came to 
Rockport, Indiana, in 1863, where I have ever since 
resided." 

At the time of this interview, I had with me some 
newspaper and magazine articles, with illustrations, 
descriptive of the old Lincoln farm in Kentucky, includ- 
ing the "Kock Spring," Nolin Creek, the old water- 
mill, Hodgenville, and other places, which were read 
and shown the old gentleman. He was perfectly famil- 
iar with all the points named, and mentioned a number 
of other items. When the name of the creek, near the 
farm, was pronounced with the accent on the first 
syllable, he said, "We always pronounced it No-lin'" 
(with the accent on the second syllable). All these 

15 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

statements are entitled to credit, as there could have 
been no object in making any false representations. 

When Abraham was about four years old the Lincolns 
moved from the Rock Spring farm to a farm on Knob 
Creek, in the eastern part of what is now Larue County. 
Here a little boy, younger than Abraham, was buried. 

Of late years considerable interest has been given to 
Lincoln's birthplace. "The Lincoln Farm Association" 
has been organized and incorporated, and the farm pur- 
chased by a group of patriotic citizens who believe that 
the people of our country should, through affiliating 
with the organization, develop the farm into a national 
park, embellished by an historical museum. Mrs. Russell 
Sage has contributed $25,000 for this purpose, and 
others are contributing. It is hoped that this most 
worthy enterprise may be successful, and thus further 
honor the immortal emancipator, and that the place will 
be dedicated to peace and good will to all, where North, 
South, East, and West may find a common ground of 
pride and fellowship. 



1G 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



CHAPTER II. 
The Lincolns Move to Indiana 

Early Hardships — "Milk Sickness" — Death of Lincoln's Mother — 
Henry and Allen Brooner's Recollections — Second Marriage of 
Thomas Lincoln— Marriage of Sarah Lincoln — Redmond P. 
(irigsby's Recollections — Death of Sarah Grigsby — Mrs. Lamar's 
Recollections — Captain Lamar's Interesting Reminiscences — 
Honorable James Gentry Interviewed. 

Thomas Lincolx moved with his family to southern 
Indiana in the fall of 1816. There were two children, 
Sarah and Abraham, the former nine, and the latter 
seven years old. The family located in. what was then 
Perry County. By a change in boundary made in 1818, 
that part of the county was made a part of the new 
county of Spencer. The location was one mile and a 
half east of where Gentryville now stands, and fifteen 
miles north of the Ohio River. The town of Lincoln 
City is now located on the farm, and is quite a railroad 
connecting point. Here the family lived fourteen years. 
The county was new, and the land was not of the best 
quality. The family was subject to the toils and priva- 
tions incident to pioneer life. Lincoln, long afterward, 
in referring to his early days in Indiana, said they were 
"pretty pinching times." 

Peter Brooner came with his family to the Game 
community two years before, and Thomas and Betsy 
Sparrow, who reared Mrs. Lincoln and her cousin, 
Dennis Hanks, came one year later than the Lincolns. 

A peculiar disease, called "the milk sickness," pre- 
vailed in the community in 1818. Thomas and Betsy 

17 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

Sparrow, Mrs. Lincoln, Mrs. Brooner, and others died 
of this disease near the same time. Thomas Lincoln, 
having learned the carpenter and cabinet-maker's trade 
in Kentucky, made all their coffins from green lumber 
sawed with a whip-saw. Their bodies were laid to rest 
on the little hill a few hundred yards south of the 
Lincoln home. 

Peter Brooner had two sons, Henry and Allen. I 
became acquainted with these brothers twenty-two years 
ago. I was pastor of a church at Dale, three miles 
from Lincoln City, two years, near where Allen lived, 
and of a country church near where Henry lived. I 
was frequently at their homes. They both knew Abra- 
ham Lincoln quite well. The Thomas Lincoln and 
Peter Brooner homes were only one-half mile apart. 
Henry was five years older, and Allen was four years 
younger than Abraham. "Uncle Henry," as he was 
always called, gave me the following items, which I 
wrote at the time, and have preserved the original 
notes: 

"I was born in Breckenridge County, Kentucky, Feb- 
ruary 7, 1804. We came to Indiana in 1814, when Allen 
was one year old. No man has lived longer in the State 
than I have, for I have lived in it ever since it became a 
State, and before. The Lincoln family came to Indiana 
two years later, and we lived one-half mile apart. During 
my mother's last sickness, Mrs. Lincoln often came to see 
her, and died just one week after my mother's death. I 
remember very distinctly that when Mrs. Lincoln's grave 
was filled, my father, Peter Brooner, extended his hand to 
Thomas Lincoln and said, 'We are brothers, now,' meaning 
that they were brothers in the same kind of sorrow. The 
bodies of my mother and Mrs. Lincoln were conveyed to 
their graves on sleds. I often stayed all night at Thomas 
Lincoln's. Dennis Hanks and his sister Sophia lived with 

18 



The Lincolns Move to Indiana 

Thomas and Betsy Sparrow, and at their deaths Dennis and 
his sister heired the estate. I helped drive up the stock 
on the day of the sale of the property. Dennis Hanks 
married Lincoln's step-sister. I often went with Lincoln 
on horseback to Huffman's Mill, on Anderson Creek, a 
distance of sixteen miles. He had a great memory, and 
for hours he would tell me what he had read." 

Henry Brooner died April 4, 1890, two years after 
the above statements were given, at the age of eighty- 
six. Everybody loved and respected "Uncle Henry/' 
Reference will be made in another chapter to further 
statements made by him on the same occasion. 

Allen Brooner was nine years younger than his 
brother Henry. He was born in Kentucky, October 22, 
1813. He was a minister in the United Brethren 
Church more than fifty years. Among other items, he 
gave me the following, which were written at the time : 

"During my mother's last sickness, Mrs. Lincoln, the 
mother of Abraham Lincoln, came to see her. Mother said, 
'I believe I will have to die.' Mrs. Lincoln said, 'Oh, you 
may outlive me.' She died just one week from the death 
of my mother. This was in October, 1818. I was five years 
old when mother died. I remember some one came to me 
in the night and told me my mother was dead. Thomas 
Lincoln made mother's coffin, and sawed the lumber with 
a whip-saw to make the coffin. She was taken on a sled to 
the graveyard on a hill, one quarter of a mile south of 
where Lincoln City now stands. Old man Howell took 
the corpse. He rode the horse hitched to the sled, and 
took me up, and I rode on the horse before him. I remem- 
ber that his long beard bothered me. We did not have 
wagons in those days. The first wagon I ever saw, my 
father made, and it had wooden tires." 

Reference will be made again to some facts stated by 
this associate of Abraham Lincoln. "Uncle Allen" died 
at his old home, near Dale, Spencer County, Indiana, 

19 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

April 2, 1902, in his eighty-ninth year, respected by all. 
I am indebted to his daughter, Mrs. Sarah Knowlton, 
for his photograph, taken at seventy-five years of age. 

N"ancy Hanks Lincoln died October 5, 1818, when 
her daughter Sarah was eleven and her son Abraham 
was nine years old. Abraham's mother had taught 
him to read and write, and, young as he was, he wrote 
for an old minister, David Elkin, whom the family had 
known in Kentucky, to come and preach his mother's 
funeral. Some time after, the minister came and the 
funeral was preached at the grave where many people 
had gathered. The minister stated that he had come 
because of the letter he had received from the little son 
of the dead mother. As I have stood by that grave, in 
my imagination I have seen that primitive congrega- 
tion — the old minister, the lonely husband, and the two 
motherless children. Sarah and Abraham, on that sad 
occasion. 

After the death of Thomas and Betsy Sparrow, 
Dennis Hanks and his sister Sophia became inmates of 
the Lincoln home. 

For many years Mrs. Lincoln's grave was neglected. 
But few persons were buried at that graveyard. In 
1879, Mr. P. E. Studebaker, of South Bend, Indiana, 
erected a marble slab at the grave, and some of the 
citizens of Eockport enclosed it with an iron railing. 
Later a larger and more appropriate monument has 
also been placed at the grave, and several acres sur- 
rounding, forming a park, have been enclosed with an 
iron fence. The park is under the control of an asso- 
ciation which has been incorporated. 

In December, 1819, Thomas Lincoln went to Ken- 
tucky and married a widow, Sarah Bush Johnston, 

20 



The Lincolns Moce to Indiana 

whom he had known there before coming to Indiana. 
She had three children, John, Matilda, and Sarah. She 
was a most excellent woman, and proved worthy of a 
mother's place in the home of Thomas Lincoln. Dennis 
Hanks married one of the daughters, and Levi Hall 
married the other. 

In August, 1826, at the age of nineteen, Sarah 
Lincoln, or Sally, as she was commonly called, was 
married to Aaron Grigsby, the oldest of a large family 
of boys. Learning that Redmond D. Grigsby resided 
near Chrisney, Spencer County, Indiana, I called upon 
him October 18, 1898. After being introduced b\ a 
friend, I asked him, "What relation were you to Aaron 
Grigsby, who married Abraham Lincoln's sister?" "He 
was my oldest brother, sir," answered the old gentle- 
man. He said he was born in 1818, and was at that- 
time eighty years old. He said that he and Lincoln 
were often thrown together, he at the home of his 
brother and Lincoln at the home of his sister. Mr. 
Grigsby said that when Abraham would start oh* with 
other boys, he had often heard Sally admonish him as 
to his conduct. Then Abraham would say, "Oh, you be 
good yourself, Sally, and Abe will take care of him- 
self." We shall have occasion to refer to Mr. Grigsby 
again. He still resides at Chrisney; is now ninety years 
of age and quite feeble. 

Sally Grigsby died in childbirth January 20, 1828, 
less than two years after her marriage. Her body sleeps 
in the old Pigeon Creek Cemetery, one mile and a half 
south of where her mother i* buried. 

Mrs. Lamar, the wife of Captain Lamar, who resided 
at Buffaloville, a short distance east of Lincoln City, 
said to me, in her home, September 8, 1903 : 

21 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

"I remember old Tommy Lincoln. I sat on his lap many 
times. I was at Sally Lincoln's infare dinner. I remember 
the night she died. My mother was there at the time. 
She had a very strong voice, and I heard her calling father. 
He awoke the boys and said, 'Something is the matter.' 
He went after a doctor, but it was too late. They let her 
lay too long. My old aunt was the midwife." 

Mrs. Lamar is still living in Spencer County, Indi- 
ana. At the same time, I interviewed Captain John 
W. Lamar. I copied the date of his birth from the 
record in his Bible. He was born December 9, 1822, 
and although but a small boy when the Lincolns 
removed to Illinois, he remembers Abraham Lincoln 
quite well. At the time of my interview, I had a clip- 
ping from the Indianapolis News of April 12, 1902, 
containing some items pertaining to his recollections 
of Lincoln, which were read to him. The clipping is 
as follows: 

"Captain J. W. Lamar, of Buffaloville, Spencer County, 
a delegate to the Republican State Convention, knew Abra- 
ham Lincoln when the latter lived in Spencer County. He 
is past eighty years old, but his memory is keen, and he 
is unusually vigorous for a man of his age. He is six feet 
tall, broad-shouldered, with flowing white hair and beard, 
making him one of the picturesque figures of the conven- 
tion crowd. Lincoln is his favorite theme, and he delights 
to talk of him. 

" 'I well remember the first time I saw Abe,' he said. 
'My father took me to Troy, at the mouth of Anderson 
River, to do a little trading, and Lincoln was at that time 
working at the ferry. Dressed in the frontiersman's coon- 
skin cap, deerskin shirt, and home-made trousers, he was 
indelibly impressed upon my memory as being one of the 
gawkiest and most awkward figures I ever saw. From that 
time on I saw him very often, as he lived near, and worked 
for my father frequently. He and my father and his 
father all helped to build the old Pigeon meeting-house, 

22 



The Lincolns Move to Indiana 

near which Abe's only sister, Sally, was buried. Tom 
Lincoln, Abe's father, often did odd jobs of carpentering 
for us. 

" 'One day, about a year after I first saw Lincoln, my 
father and I went over to old Jimmy Gentry's store, where 
the town of Gentryville now stands. When we got there, 
I noticed Lincoln out by an old stump, working very indus- 
triously at something. On going nearer, I saw that he was 
figuring or writing on a clapboard, which he had shaved 
smooth, and was paying no attention to what was going on 
around him. My father remarked to me then that Abe 
wcnld be somebody some day, but, of course, did not have 
any idea how true his words would come out. 

" 'Many times have I seen him studying at odd moments, 
with a book or something to write on, when others were 
having a good time. That was what made him so great. 

" 'In August, before the spring that the Lincoln's left for 
Illinois, a township election was held at a log house near 
where the town of Santa Fe now stands. . . . All the men 
in the neighborhood were gathered there, and conspicuous 
among them was one, Sampson, a braggart and bully. He 
was storming around, praising a horse he had. 

" ' "Why," said he, "I ran him four miles in five minutes 
this morning, and he never drew a long breath!" 

" 'Abe, who was sitting on a rail fence near me, remarked 
quietly to him, "I suppose, though, Mr. Sampson, he drew 
a good many short ones." 

" 'This was just the opening Sampson was looking for, 
so he began to bluster up to Lincoln. After standing abuse 
for a few minutes, Abe told him to hush up or he would 
take him by the nape of the neck and throw him over the 
fence. [At this point the old captain interrupted my read- 
ing, and said, "Lincoln did not say he would throw him 
over the fence, but said he would throw him into a pond of 
water near by."] This had an effect, and Sampson shut 
up, because he knew Abe could, and would do what he said. 

" 'My father's house was on the road between Gentryville 
and the nearest trading-point on the Ohio River, at Troy. 
To this place the settlers took their deer and bear hides, 
venison hams, and other game, for which they received 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

clothes, powder, and other necessary articles. Lincoln and 
his father had constructed a wagon for old man Gentry, 
made entirely out of wood, even to the hickory rims to the 
wheels. 

" 'This they loaded with produce, and started for Troy. 
Arriving at my father's house, a rain had swollen the 
creek near there, so that they decided to stay all night, 
and wait for the water to subside. During the night wolves 
stole nearly all the venison from the wagon. That which 
belonged to the Lincolns was not touched, however; it was 
in the bottom of the wagon. My father was a very serious 
man, and scarcely ever smiled, but Abe, with his droll 
ways and pleasant humor, always made him laugh. 

" 'A great grief, which affected Abe through his life, was 
caused by the death of his only sister, Sally. They were 
close companions, and were a great deal alike in tempera- 
ment. About a year after her marriage to one of the 
Grigsbys, she died. This was a hard blow to Abe, who 
always thought her death was due to neglect. Abe was 
in a little smoke-house when the news came to him that 
she had died. He came to the door and sat down, burying 
his face in his hands. The tears trickled through his large 
fingers, and sobs shook his frame. From then on he was 
alone in the world, you might say.' " 

In addition to the foregoing interesting reminiscences, 
the captain related to me other important items, some 
of which are here given as he related them: 

"Old Si Crawford, the man who loaned Lincoln the book 
which was damaged, was my uncle. I remember one time 
Lincoln came to our place when my father was sitting on 
a shaving-horse, doing some work. Other boys and I were 
standing near by. Mr. Lincoln, addressing us, said, 'Well, 
boys, what have you learned to-day?' No one answering, 
he said, 'I wouldn't give a cent for a boy who doesn't know 
more to-day than he knew yesterday.' This remark greatly 
impressed me, and I have never forgotten it. 

"Old Uncle Jimmy Gentry, who founded the town of 
Gentry ville, kept a store there. He was somewhat illit- 

24 



The Lincolns Move to Indiana. 



erate. I remember hearing him and Major Daniels talking, 
when the major asked him what per cent, he was making 
on the sale of his goods. Uncle Jimmy replied, 'God bless 
your soul, I don't know anything about your per cent., but 
1 know when I buy an article in Louisville for a dollar, 
and sell it in Gentry ville for two dollars, I double my 
money every time.' " 

Captain Lamar died November 4, 1903, a little more 
than two months after my visit to him, at the age of 
eighty-one. Mrs. Lamar is still living i n Spencer 
County. 

The same day, after leaving the Lamars, I called 
upon the Honorable James Gentry, at Rockport. He 
was the son of James Gentry, the founder of Gentry- 
ville. He was born February 24, 1819, and was ten 
years younger than Lincoln. He related much about 
Lincoln, some things which will be found in another 
chapter. He repeated the story about his brother, Allen 
Gentry, and Lincoln taking a ilatboat, loaded with farm 
products, down the Ohio River to Xew Orleans, the 
attack of the negroes and how they were driven away. 
Mi*. Gentry said, "If ever a man was raised up by 
Providence, it was Lincoln, for he had no chance." Mr. 
Gentiy was elected on the Democratic ticket to the 
Indiana, Legislature of 1871. He gave me his picture, 
reproduced herein, but it represents him much younger 
than when I saw him. He died May 3, 1905, at the 
age of eighty-six. 



25 



CHAPTER III. 
Indiana Associates and Incidents 

The Double Wedding — One of the Brides Interviewed— 'The 
Chronicles of Reuben" — Josiah Crawford's Daughter — The 
Lincoln-Brooner Rifle Gun — David Turnham, the Indiana 
Constable — The "Revised Statutes of Indiana." 

Reuben Grigsby had quite a family of sons. Aaron, 
the oldest, who married Lincoln's sister, and Redmond 
D., the youngest, have already been mentioned. Tv^o 
sons, Reuben and Charles, were married the same day, 
the former married in Spencer County and the latter 
in Dubois, the adjoining county on the north. A double 
infare dinner was given at old Reuben Grigsby's, the 
day following the marriages. The Grigsby s were 
regarded as belonging to the "upper ten" class in those 
days, for they lived in a two-story hewed-log house. 

On the sixth of April, 1899, I met Elizabeth Grigsby, 
commonly called "Aunt Betsy," one of the brides, the 
widow of Reuben, Jr., at the home of Mr. and Mrs. 
Justin Banks, near Grandview, Spencer County. She 
was in her eighty-seventh year. She was cheerful, and 
bright in her mind, and had a good knowledge of cur- 
rent events. I requested her to give me a sketch of her 
life, and stated that it might prove useful and interest- 
ing as a matter of history. She thought that, perhaps, 
what I said might be true, and cheerfully gave the fol- 
lowing : 

"My father, Ezekiel Ray, was born in Ireland, and came 
to America at the age of three years, and his father settled 
in Tennessee. My father and a number of others, among 

26 



Indiana Associates and Incidents 

them Mr. Grass and Mr. Lamar, came to Indiana, and set- 
tled where Grandview now stands. My father died when 
I was five years old. I had one sister and five brothers. 
I was next to the youngest child. My mother remained a 
widow, and died twelve years after the death of my father. 
I had sixty acres of land left to me, my part of father's 
estate. 

"I was married to Reuben Grigsby on the 15th of April, 
1829, before my seventeenth birthday, which was June 1, 
following. Charles, my husband's brother, was married 
the same day. We had infare dinner at the home of my 
husband's father, Reuben Grigsby, three miles south of 
Gentryville. My husband and I arrived about two hours 
before the other couple arrived. John Johnston, Abraham 
Lincoln's step-brother, told a story about a mistake made 
by the brothers in going to bed upstairs that night, which 
led to a fight between himself and William Grigsby, a 
brother of the two who were married. This story told by 
John Johnston occasioned the writing of 'The Chronicles 
of Reuben,' by Abraham Lincoln, a short time afterward. 
I saw Lincoln at my father-in-law's two days after our 
marriage. He was not a good looking young man. 

"Sally Lincoln, Abraham's only sister, married Aaron 
Grigsby, my husband's oldest brother, but that was before 
my marriage. I never saw her, for she died about three 
years after her marriage. I have seen Thomas Lincoln, 
but was not acquainted with him. My husband and Abra 
ham Lincoln attended the same school. My husband never 
had a sister that he thought more of than he did of Saily 
Lincoln. 

"After our marriage on Thursday, we moved to my place, 
where Grandview now is. I have been a member of the 
United Brethren Church about forty-five years. My hus- 
band joined the church about eight years before I joined. 
He was a class-leader for many years. He died sixteeu 
years ago last January. I have raised eight children, but 
only four are living, one son and three daughters. 

"I am not much account any more, but I am still here. 
My health has been better the past winter than common. 
My eyesight is good. I have never used spectacles, but I 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

have trouble sometimes in threading a fine needle. My 
teeth are all gone, except two old snags. I am living on 
my farm of forty acres, two miles northwest of Grandview. 
I have a house of four rooms. I rent my farm and three 
rooms, reserving one room for myself. I do my 07» r n cook- 
ing, and eat alone." 

"Aunt Betsy" died March 27, 1901, two years after 
the interview mentioned, in her eighty-ninth year. Her 
picture, secured for this book, through her daughter, 
Mrs. Eneo, residing in Spencer County, is a good one. 

"The Chronicles of Reuben," mentioned by "Aunt 
Betsy," were written in scripture style, but no copy has 
been preserved. Thomas Bimton, an aged citizen of 
Gentry vi lie, told me that he remembered hearing the 
"Chronicles" read when he was a boy. Redmond D. 
Grigsby told me, in my interview with him, that he was 
in possession of them for some time, but they were lost 
or destroyed. He said the "Chronicles" were no credit 
to Mr. Lincoln. Those purporting to be the "Chron- 
icles" in Herndon and Weiks' "Life of Lincoln," were 
written by Herndon as remembered by Mrs. Crawford, 
the wife of Josiah Crawford. Dr. W. S. Bryant, of 
Dale, told me, some years ago, that he accompanied 
Herndon, in 1865, to the Crawford place, when the 
"Chronicles" were written as before stated. It had then 
been thirty-six years since they were written. 

The Grigsbys were much irritated when the "Chron- 
icles" were written, and have protested against their 
becoming a matter of history. It is alleged that they 
were written to humiliate the Grigsbys for slighting- 
Lincoln in the invitations to the infare. The account 
of the fight between John Johnston and William Grigsby 
is mentioned in full in Lamon's "Life of Lincoln," but 

28 



Indiana Associates and Incidents 

whether all the details there mentioned are true no one 
can say. 

The day 1 visited Captain and Mrs. Lamar, already 
referred to, at their request, I visited the captain's 
cousin, Mrs. Ruth Jennings Huff, residing in Buffalo- 
ville. She was the only surviving child of Josiah Craw- 
ford. She said she was the middle child of five children, 
three hrothers and one sister. She showed me a corner 
cupboard made by Thomas Lincoln and his son Abra- 
ham for her father. Her father died about thirty 
years before my visit. In the distribution of the prop- 
erty among the children, among other things, she chose 
the cupboard. After telling many things she had heard 
her parents say about Lincoln, I ventured to ask if she 
ever heard of the "Chronicles of Reuben. " Her quick, 
characteristic reply was, "Lord, yes ; I Ye heard mother 
tell it a thousand times.'' Mrs. Huff died at the resi- 
dence of her son, S. H. Jennings, in Rockport, Indiana, 
December 26, 1906, in her eightieth year. Mr. Jennings 
is the present owner of the cupboard referred to, and he 
writes me that he would not part with it for any reason- 
able price. I am indebted to him for a good photograph 
of his mother. 

In the latter part of the 'twenties, Abraham Lincoln 
and Henry Brooner walked to Vincennes, Indiana, a 
distance of more than fifty miles, and while there they 
purchased a rifle gun in partnership for fifteen dollars. 
They hunted for game on their way back home. When 
the Lincolns moved to Illinois in 1830, Mr. Brooner 
purchased Mr. Lincoln's interest in the gun. He kept 
it until 1872, when he presented it to his adopted son 
Samuel, on the day of his marriage. I purchased the 
gun of Samuel Brooner, September 7, 190.3. Of course, 

29 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

the gun was originally a "flint-lock." It was changed 
to shoot with percussion caps. John F. Martin, now 
living at Dale, in his seventy-eighth year, and a son-in- 
law of Henry Brooner; John W. Kemp, now sixty-three, 
a justice of the peace, born and reared on a farm adjoin- 
ing Henry Brooner, and Samuel Brooner, each made 
oath as to their knowledge of the gun. I have known 
all these persons for more than twenty years, and know 
their testimony to be first class. The gun is now in 
possession of John E. Burton, of Lake Geneva, Wis- 
consin. 

Nearly all the Lincoln biographies mention the fact 
that Lincoln often read and studied the "Revised Stat- 
utes of Indiana," which he borrowed of David Turnham, 
a constable, who lived near the Lincolns in Indiana. 
Mr. Turnham's father and family came to Indiana and 
settled in Spencer County, in 1819. Turnham and 
Lincoln went hunting together and attended the same 
school, although Turnham was six years older, as he 
was born August 2, 1803. "The Revised Statutes,'*' 
besides containing the constitution and laws of Indiana, 
contained the Declaration of Independence and the 
Constitution of the United States. No doubt it was in 
this book that Lincoln first read those important docu- 
ments. Mr. Turnham gave the book to Mr. Herndon 
in 1865, when he was gathering material for the "Life 
of Lincoln/* After being in several hands, the book is 
now said to be in possession of W. H. Winters, librarian 
of the New York Law Institute. 

Twenty years ago I visited the home of David Turn- 
ham's widow, now deceased, who knew Mr. Lincoln, and 
I was well acquainted with the two sons, John J. and 
George W., who then resided at Dale. David Turnham 

30 



Indiana Associates and Incidents 

died August 2, 1884, at the age of eighty-one. I am 
under obligation to my esteemed friend, George W. 
Turnham, now of Evansville, Indiana, for information 
concerning his father, for a copy of Lincoln's letter to 
his father, found elsewhere in this book, and for his 
father's and mother's pictures, which have never before 
appeared in any publication. 



31 



CHAPTER IV. 
The Emigration to Illinois 

Preparations for Removal — Recollections of Old Acquaintances — 
The Old Indiana Home — Blocks from the Old House — The 
Cedar Tree — More Tangled History Untangled — Mr. Jones' 
Store — Various Experiences in Illinois — Recollections of an 
Old Friend. 

After residing in Indiana fourteen years, and having 
rather a rough experience, Thomas Lincoln, through 
the inducements of others, concluded to move to Illi- 
nois. Abraham was now twenty-one years old. The 
farm products were sold to David Turnham. The 
family started March 1, 1880. Other families accom- 
panied them. 

Expressions made to me, and written at the time by 
different persons who remembered the departure of the 
Lincolns, are here given : 

Allen Brooner said: "I remember when the Lincoln 
family left for Illinois. Abraham and his step-brother, 
John Johnston, came to my fathers to trade a young 
horse for a yoke of oxen. The trade was made. John 
Johnston did most of the talking." 

Redmond D. Grigshy said : "I was twelve years old 
when the Lincolns left for Illinois. I helped to hitch 
the two yokes of oxen to the wagon, and went with them 
half a mile." 

James Gentry said: "I was eleven years old when 
the Lincoln family started to Illinois. They stayed at 
my father's the night before they started." 

Mrs. Lamar said : "I remember when the Lincolns 
left for Illinois. All the neighbors went to see them 

32 




UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH, 
At Lincoln City, Indiana, on the old Lincoln farm. 
The author, a* presiding elder, has officiated and 
preached in this church. 



The Emigration to Illinois 

start. All the surroundings, to my mind, are as plain 
as things are now in my kitchen." 

The old Indiana house, built by Thomas Lincoln, in 
1817, was torn down, and the logs shipped away, many 
years ago, except one log. Isaac Houghland, a reliable 
man and merchant of Lincoln City, was in possession 
of this log, and stated to me that a man by the name 
of Skelton said he would make oath that it was one of 
the logs of the old Lincoln house. Mr. Houghland 
kindly gave me two blocks, which I saw his son chop 
from the log. 

A cedar-tree stands near where the Lincoln house 
stood. A number of unreliable stories concerning this 
tree have been told in various Lincoln biographies, 
magazine and newspaper articles. Some state that the 
tree was planted by Abraham Lincoln; others, that 
James Gentry planted the tree the day the Lincolns 
started to Illinois, in honor of his friend, Abraham. 
James Gentry, many years ago, purchased several hun- 
dred acres of land around and including the Lincoln 
farm. He told me, in the interview before mentioned, 
that he planted the cedar-tree in 1858. I wrote that 
fact in his presence, and have preserved the original 
paper on which it is written. The tree was planted 
twenty-eight years after the Lincolns vacated the prem- 
ises. Some of the citizens of Lincoln City do not know 
the true history of the tree. Some yet believe Lincoln 
planted it, and hundreds of visitors have almost stripped 
the tree of its twigs and branches with the same delusive 
idea. Here is more "tangled history untangled." 

William Jones kept a store at Gentryville some years 
before, and at the time the Lincolns went away, Abra- 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

ham often worked for Mr. Jones, and read newspapers 
at the store. Before leaving he bought thirty-five dol- 
lars' worth of goods from Mr. Jones to sell on the way 
out to Illinois. He wrote back that he doubled his 
money on the investment. Mr. Jones was bom in 
Vincennes, Indiana, January 5, 1800. He was a mem- 
ber of the Indiana Legislature from 1838 to 1841. He 
was killed while in command as colonel of the Fifty- 
third Indiana Regiment, at Atlanta, Georgia, July 22, 
1864. I gather these facts, mainly, from an article 
furnished a newspaper by Captain William Jones, of 
Rockport, Indiana, a son of Colonel William Jones. I 
knew Captain Jones at Dale, many years ago. 

The Lincolns were about two weeks on their journey 
to Illinois. They first settled near Decatur. Thomas 
Lincoln moved a time or two after, and finally settled 
on Goosenest Prairie, near Farmington, in Coles 
County, where he died January 12, 1851, at the 'age of 
seventy-three. Lincoln's step-mother, whom he loved 
very dearly, died April 10, 1869, in her eighty-first year, 
and four years after the death of her famous step-son. 

After his removal to Illinois, Abraham Lincoln did 
not remain much of the time at home. I shall not 
follow his history here in detail. His rail-splitting pro- 
clivities; his Black Hawk War record; his experience 
as a merchant and postmaster; his career as a lawyer; 
his election at various times to the Illinois Legislature ; 
his election to Congress; his marriage, and many other 
matters of history are found in most any of his numer- 
ous biographies. Whatever reference may be made to 
any of these periods in his history will be for the pur- 
pose of introducing new material. 

34 



The Emigration to Illinois 

The following, relative to some of Lincoln's early 
experiences in Indiana, was related to me by one of 
Lincoln's early Indiana friends, Allen Brooner: 

"I went to Illinois in 1835-36. Most of the time I was 
there I worked at the carpenter trade at Petersburg. We 
were getting out timber for a mill. The owner made me 
boss.' At that time Abraham Lincoln was postmaster at 
New Salem. He was also keeping a store at the time. 
While I was there, Lincoln made a mistake in his own 
favor of five cents in trading with a woman. When he 
discovered his mistake, he walked two and a half miles to 
correct the mistake. The county surveyor came to see 
Lincoln while I was out there, and wanted to make him 
his deputy. Lincoln said, 'I know nothing of surveying.' 
But,' said the surveyor, 'they tell me you can learn any- 
thing.' Not long afterward I saw Lincoln out surveying. 
When Lincoln would hand me my mail he would often 
inquire about, the Spencer County people and the old 
acquaintances. In his conversation he always put the best 
construction on everything." 



35 



CHAPTER V. 
Lincoln Visits the Old Indiana Home 

Lincoln an Admirer of Henry Clay — A Whig Elector — Goes to 
Indiana — Makes Speeches* — Old Friends and Old-Time Scenes — - 
Writes a Poem. 

In 1844, Henry Clay was a candidate for President 
of the United States, on the Whig ticket. Abraham 
Lincoln was a great admirer of Mr. Clay, and referred 
to him as his "bean-ideal of a statesman/' He was 
placed on the Whig ticket as presidential elector, and 
made speeches in favor of Mr. Clay's election. During 
the canvass he visited his old home and acquaintances 
in Indiana for the first time since he left, fourteen years 
before, and it was his only visit to the home of his 
youth. 

On the 22d of October, 1898, Thomas Bunton, then 
seventy-five years old, said to me: "I heard Lincoln 
speak in Gentry ville in 1844. I saw him coming to the 
place of meeting with Mr. Jones. I heard Lincoln say, 
'Don't introduce me to any one; I want to see how 
many I can recognize.' He went around shaking hands, 
and when he came to me he said, 'This is a Bunton.' " 

Captain Lamar said, at the time of my visit to him 
already mentioned: "At the close of Lincoln's speech, 
near Buffaloville, he said, 'Friends and fellow-citizens, 
I may never see you again, but give us a protective tariff 
and you will some day see the greatest nation the sun 
ever shone over.' While saying this he pointed to the 
east and, raising his hand, he closed the sentence point- 
ing to the west. From the speaking I went with him 



Lincoln Vis-its the Old Indiana Home 

to Si Crawford's for dinner. He talked much about 
old times, places, and people familiar to him in other 
days. The last words Abe said to me were these, 'You 
are comparatively young, God bless you, I may never 
see you again/ " 

Mr. Lincoln was so impressed by his visit to the old 
home that he wrote a descriptive poem, which is pub- 
lished in some of the Lincoln biographies. The follow- 
ing letter, written in 1846, explains why he wrote the 
poem : 

"The piece of poetry of my own which I allude to I was 
led to write under the following circumstances: In the 
fall of 1844, thinking I might aid to carry the State of 
Indiana for Mr. Clay, I went to the neighborhood in that 
State in which I was raised, where my mother and my 
only sister are buried, and from which I had been about 
fifteen years. That part of the country is, within itself, 
as unpoetical as any spot of the earth; but still, seeing it 
and its objects and inhabitants aroused feelings in me 
which were certainly poetry, though whether my expression 
of these feelings is poetry is quite another question. When 
I got to writing, the change of subject divided the thing 
into four little divisions, or cantos, the first only of which 
I send you, and may send the others hereafter." 

"My childhood's home I see again, 
And sadden with the view; 
And still, as memory crowds my brain, 
There 's pleasure in it, too. 

"O memory! thou midway world 
'Twixt earth and paradise, 
Where things decayed, and loved ones lost, 
In dreanry shadows rise; 

"And, freed from all that's earthly vile, 
Seem hallowed, pure, and bright, 
Like scenes in some enchanted isle, 
All bathed in liquid light. 

37 



Footprints of Abraham JAnc-ohi 

'As dusky mountains please the eye, 

When twilight chases day; 
As bugle notes that, passing by, 

In distance die away; 

'As leaving some grand waterfall, 

We, lingering, list its roar; 
So memory will hallow all 

We've known, but know no more. 

'Near twenty years have passed away 

Since here I bid farewell 
To woods and fields, and scenes of play, 

And playmates loved so well; 

'Where many were, but few remain, 

Of old, familiar things; 
But seeing them to mind again 

The lost and absent brings. 

'The friends I left that parting day, 

How changed! as time has sped 
Young childhood grown, strong manhood gray, 

And half of all are dead. 

"I hear the loud survivors tell 

How naught from death could save, 
Till every sound appears a knell, 
And every spot a grave. 

"I range the fields with pensive tread, 

And pace the hollow rooms, 
And feel (companions of the dead), 
I 'm living in the tombs." 



38 



CHAPTER VI. 
Lincoln and the Armstrong Case 

Famous Law Cases — The Clary Grove Boys — The Wrestling Con- 
test — Jack and Hannah Armstrong — Trial of Their Son for 
Murder — Lincoln's Tact and the Acquittal — Letters from the 
Surviving Attorney in the Case — More Tangled History 
Untangled — Unpublished Facts Connected with Parties in the 
Case. 

Lincoln, as a lawyer, was employed in a number of 
noted cases involving great interests. One was the 
defense of a slave girl, Nancy, in 1841, in the Supreme 
Court of Illinois, who, through him, was made free. At 
this time Mr. Lincoln was only thirty-two years of age. 
The case excited great interest, and the decision forever 
settled the few traces of slavery which had then existed 
in southern Illinois. 

Another case was the Central Illinois Railroad Com- 
pany against McLean County, Illinois, tried at Bloom- 
ington. This case was decided in favor of the railroad. 
Mr. Lincoln received from the company a fee of $5,000, 
the largest fee he ever received. 

Another suit, in which he was employed was the 
McCormick Reaper Patent case, tried in 1857, in Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio. Here Mr. Lincoln first met the Honor- 
able Edwin M. Stanton, who was employed on the same 
side of the case. Mr. Stanton treated Mr. Lincoln with 
great disrespect. Mr. Lincoln overheard him, in an 
adjoining room, ask, "Where did that long-armed crea- 
ture come from, and what can he do in this case?" He 
also declared if "that giraffe" was permitted to appear 
in the case he would throw up his brief and leave it- 
He further referred to Lincoln as a "long, lank creature 

39 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

from Illinois, wearing a dirty linen duster for a coat, 
the back of which the perspiration had splotched 
with stains that resembled the map of a continent." 
As there were a number of attorneys on both sides, it 
was ordered that only two speeches be made on each 
side. This order would exclude either Lincoln or Stan- 
ton, as there were three attorneys on that side of the 
ease. At Lincoln's suggestion, Stanton quickly decided 
to speak. Mr. Lincoln was greatly disappointed, for he 
had made much preparation. Four years later, Mr. 
Lincoln was inaugurated President of the United 
States, and he chose Mr. Stanton as a member of his 
cabinet, and they were close friends during the Civil 
War. 

The most celebrated case in which Mr. Lincoln fig- 
ured was the Armstrong case, in 1858. All the Lincoln 
biographers refer to it, and as I have some unpublished 
facts in reference to it and some of the parties con- 
nected with the case, it is here presented at length. 

There was near New Salem a band of young men 
known as the "Clary Grove Boys." The special tie 
that united them was physical courage and strength. 
Every newcomer of any great strength had to be tested. 
So Lincoln was required to go through the ordeal of a 
wrestling match. Seeing that he could not be easily 
floored, Jack Armstrong, their champion, was chosen 
to lay Lincoln on his back. Many gathered to witness 
the contest, and a number of bets were made. After 
quite a spirited engagement, Lincoln won, and was 
invited to become one of the company. Jack Armstrong 
declared, "Abe Lincoln is the best man that ever broke 
into the settlement, 1 ' and he became a lifelong, warm 
friend of Lincoln. 

40 



Lincoln and the Armstrong Case 

Some time after the scuffle, Lincoln found a homes 
for a time, with Jack Armstrong, where he read and 
studied. Armstrong was a farmer, and a poor man, 
but he saw genius struggling in the young student, and 
welcomed him to his cabin home and rough faro. Mrs. 
Armstrong, a most excellent woman, learned to respect 
Mr. Lincoln, and befriended him in many ways. 

About twenty years after Lincoln's stay in the Arm- 
strong home, William D. Armstrong, commonly called 
"Duff," a son of Jack and Hannah Armstrong, became 
involved in a difficulty. He was somewhat wild, and 
was often in bad company. One night, in August, 1857. 
in company with a wild crowd, he went to a camp- 
meeting, where a row ensued, in which a man named 
Metzker received injuries from which he died three days 
later. Young Armstrong and another young man, 
Norris, were arrested, charged with murder, and put 
in jail. The community was greatly stirred over the 
matter and demanded the speedy punishment of the 
prisoners. A short time after "Duff" was placed in jail, 
his father, Jack Armstrong, died, and his last request 
was for his wife to sell everything she had to clear 
"Duff." Mrs. Armstrong engaged two lawyers at 
Havana, Illinois, and Lincoln, hearing of her troubles, 
wrote her the following letter : 

"Springfield, Ohio, September 18, . 

"Dear Mrs. Armstrong:— I have just heard of your deep 
affliction, and the arrest of your son for murder. I can 
hardly believe that he can be guilty of the crime alleged 
against him. It does not seem possible. I am anxious 
that he should have a fair trial, at any rate; and gratitude 
for your leng-continued kindness to me in adverse circum- 
stances prompts me to offer my humble services gratui- 
tously in his behalf. It will afford me an opportunity to 

41 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

requite, in a small degree, the favors I received at your 
hand, and that of your lamented husband, when your roof 
afforded me grateful shelter without money and without 
price. Yours truly, 

"Abraham Lincoln." 

The first act was to secure a postponement and a 
change in place of trial. The trial was held at Beards- 
town, in May, 1858, only two years before Mr. Lincoln 
was nominated for President of the United States, and 
the case was watched with great interest. Norris had 
already been convicted and sent to the penitentiary. 

"When the trial was called the prisoner was pale and 
emaciated, with hopelessness written on every feature. 
He was accompanied by his half-hoping, half-despairing 
mother, whose only hope was in a mother's belief of her 
son's innocence, in the justice of the God she worshiped, 
and in the noble counsel, who, without hope of fee or 
reward upon earth, had undertaken the case." 

A statement of the trial is here taken, with a few 
changes, from Barrett's excellent "Life of Lincoln" : 

"Mr. Lincoln sat quietly by while the large auditory 
looked on him as though wondering what he could say in 
defense of one whose guilt they regarded as certain. The 
examination of the witnesses for the State was begun, and 
a well-arranged mass of evidence, circumstantial and posi- 
tive, was introduced, which seemed to impale the prisoner 
beyond the possibility of extrication. The strongest evi- 
dence was that of a man who belonged to the rough ele- 
ment, who swore that at eleven o'clock at night he saw 
Armstrong strike the deceased on the head, that the moon 
was shining brightly, and was nearly full, and that its 
position in the sky was just about that of the sun at ten 
o'clock in the morning, and that by it he saw Armstrong 
give the mortal blow. 

"The counsel for the defense propounded but few ques- 
tions, and those of a character which excited no uneasiness 

42 



Lincoln and the Armstrong Case 

on the part of the prosecutor — merely, in most cases, re- 
quiring the main witness to be definite as to time and 
place. 

"When the evidence of the prosecution was ended, Lin- 
coln introduced a few witnesses to remove some erroneous 
impressions in regard to the previous character of his 
client, who, though somewhat rowdyish, had never been 
known to commit a vicious act; and to show that a greater 
degree of ill feeling existed between the accuser and the 
accused than the accused and the deceased. 

"The prosecutor felt that the case was a clear one, and 
his opening speech was brief and formal. Lincoln arose, 
while a deathly silence pervaded the vast audience, and in 
a clear, but moderate tone, began his argument. Slowly 
and carefully he reviewed the testimony, pointing out the 
hitherto unobserved discrepancies in the statements of the 
principal witness. That which had seemed plain and 
plausible, he made to appear as a serpent's path. The 
witness had stated that the affair took place at a certain 
hour in the evening, and that, by the aid of the brightly 
shining moon, he saw the prisoner inflict the death blow." 

At this point Mr. Lincoln produced an almanac, 
which showed that at the time referred to by the witness 
there was no moon at all, and showed it to the jury. 
He then said that the principal witness had testified to 
what was absolutely false, and declared his whole story 
a fabrication. Lincoln had told no one of his discovery, 
so that it produced quite a sensation. 

"An almost instantaneous change seemed to have been 
wrought in the minds of the auditors, and the verdict of 
'not guilty' was at the end of every tongue. But the advo- 
cate was not content with this intellectual achievement. 
His whole being had for months been bound up in this 
work of gratitude and mercy, and, as the lava of the over- 
charged crater bursts from its imprisonment, so great 
thoughts and burning words leaped from the soul of the 
eloquent Lincoln. He drew a picture of the perjurer, so 

43 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

horrid and ghastly that the accuser could sit under it no 
longer, hut reeled and staggered from the court-room, while 
the audience fancied they could see the brand upon his 
brow. Then, in words of thrilling pathos, Lincoln appealed 
to the jurors, as fathers of sons who might become father- 
less, and as husbands of wives who might be widowed, to 
yield to no previous impressions, no ill-founded prejudice, 
but to do his client justice. As he alluded to the debt of 
gratitude he owed the boy's dead father and his living 
widowed mother, tears were seen to fall from many eyes 
unused to weep. It was near night when he concluded by 
saying that if justice was done, — as he believed it would 
be, — before the sun should set it would shine upon his 
client a free man. 

'The jury retired, and the court adjourned for the day. 
Half an hour had not elapsed when a messenger announced 
that the jury had returned to their seats. All repaired 
immediately to the court-house, and while the prisoner was 
being brought from the jail, the court-room was filled to 
overflowing with citizens of the town. When the prisoner 
and his mother entered, silence reigned as completely as 
though the house were empty. The foreman of the jury, 
in answer to the usual inquiry from the court, delivered 
the verdict of 'Not guilty.' 

"The widow dropped into the arms of her son, who lifted 
her up, and told her to look upon him as before, free and 
innocent. Then with the words, 'Where is Mr. Lincoln?* 
he rushed across the room, and grasped the hand of his 
deliverer, while his heart was too full for utterance. Lin- 
coln turned his eyes toward the west, where the sun still 
lingered in view, and then, turning to the youth, said, 'It 
is not yet sundown, and you are free.' An eye-witness 
says: 'I confess that my cheeks were not wholly unwet 
by tears as I turned from the affecting scene. As I cast 
a glance behind, I saw Abraham Lincoln obeying the divine 
injunction, by comforting the widowed and the f :therless.' '' 

A story has been reported that the introduction of an 
almanac in the Armstrong trial was a piece of trickery 
on Lincoln's part; that an almanac of 1853 was used 

44 



Lincoln and the Armstrong Case 

with all the figure 3's changed to Ts. This was not 
necessary, for the almanac of 1857 answered the pur- 
pose, and, besides, Mr. Lincoln was not a dishonest 
lawyer. 

Others have claimed that no almanac was used at all 
in the trial. George Cary Eggleston, a noted author, 
is reported as putting a discount on it, and intimates 
that the story arose from an incident connected with a 
trial in the early 'fifties at Yevay, Indiana, witnessed 
by himself and his brother Edward, the author of the 
"Hoosier Schoolmaster," and other popular novels. lie 
says his brother, in writing the novel, entitled "The 
Graysons," exercised the novelist's privilege, and attrib- 
uted this clever trick to Abraham Lincoln in the days 
of his obscurity. 

Part First of Honorable J. H. Barrett's "Life of 
Lincoln" was prepared for the press in June, 1860, just 
after Mr. Lincoln's nomination for the presidency, and 
only two years after the Armstrong trial, and there the 
trial is mentioned in full, with the almanac incident. 
How does the George Gary Eggleston account jibe with 
these facts? His brother Edward simply stated an his- 
torical fact in attributing the almanac incident to Lin- 
coln, and it was not the exercise of a novelist's fancy. 

In order to secure additional facts in the Armstrong 
case, I recently wrote to the postmaster at Havana, 
Illinois, for the names of the lawyers, if yet living, who 
were associated with Mr. Lincoln in the case. The 
following letter was received, which is here given for its 
historic value: 

"Havana, Illinois, August 22, 1908. 
"Rev. J. T. Hobson, Dear Sir: — Your letter directed to 
the postmaster of this place, dated August 18, 1908, wa3 

45 



Foot pints of Abraham Lincoln 

handed to me by the postmaster, Mr. Oscar Harpham, and 
he requested me to answer your letter. 

"You ask for the names of the lawyers in Havana, who, 
in connection with Abraham Lincoln, defended Duff Arm- 
strong in the Circuit Court of Cass County, Illinois, held 
in Beardstown, in 1858. In answer, I will state that the 
undersigned, Lyman Lacey, Sr., was one of the two lawyers 
who was employed to defend said Armstrong. Our firm 
name was Walker and Lacey, and we were practicing law 
in Havana, Mason County, Illinois, at the time in partner- 
ship, and had been so engaged at the time of the trial 
since 1856. Mr. Walker's given name was William. In 
1865, Mr. William Walker removed to Lexington, State of 
Missouri, where he practiced law, and was county judge 
part of the time, and, a few years ago, died. 

"I am the only attorney who practiced and was employed 
to defend Armstrong, yet alive. I am in the practice of 
law now, and am in good health, and on the 9th day of 
May last was seventy-six years old. Was about twenty-six 
years old at the time of trial of the Armstrong case in 
Beardstown, and my partner, some years older than myself, 
was the senior member of our firm. He attended the trial 
in Beardstown with Lincoln. I was not present, but stayed 
at home in the office in Havana. 

"Mason and Cass counties join, and the crime of killing 
Metzker, for which Armstrong was indicted, took place in 
Mason County, and the indictment against Armstrong was 
found in this county, and a change of venue was taken to 
Cass County, which was in the same judicial district. 

"I was well acquainted with Hannah Armstrong, mother 
of "Duff," with whom Lincoln had boarded in Menard 
County, which also joins Mason, when he was a young man, 
and before he was a lawyer, That was the reason Lincoln 
would not charge anything for defending her son. Our 
firm, Walker and Lacey, did not charge her anything for 
our services. "Duff" could not pay. His mother employed 
us and Lincoln. Lincoln and our firm consulted together 
about the defense, and Walker assisted at the trial. 

"I would be glad to give you any information in regard 
to the trial and the parties in the Armstrong case. It was 

46 



Lincoln and the Armstrong Case 

quite celebrated, and things have been told that were not 
true. 

"In regard to myself, in 1873 I was elected judge of the 
Circuit Court, and elected three times afterwards, and 
served in all twenty-four years. By appointment of the 
Supreme Court of this State, I served twenty years on the 
Appellate Court bench. I retired from the bench in 1897. 
"Yours very truly, 

"Lyman Lacey, Sr." 

After receiving the above letter, I wrote to Judge 
Lacy for additional information, and, in reply, received 
another letter containing interesting data, which here 
follows : 

"Havana, Illinois, September 1, 1908. 

"Rev. J. T. Hobson, Dear Sir: — Your letter of August 
26th, was duly received, and contents noted. I wish to 
state to you that William Duff Armstrong was duly and 
jointly indicted with James H. Norris in the Circuit Court 
of Mason County, Illinois, for the murder of Metzker, 
October 3, 1857. Hugh Pullerton, of Mason County, was 
State's attorney and prosecutor, and is long since deceased. 
Norris was unable to employ an attorney, not having the 
necessary means. According to the laws of Illinois, in 
such case the circuit judge appoints an attorney at law to 
defend him, and the attorney is obliged to defend the 
prisoner without compensation. Accordingly the court 
appointed William Walker, my law partner, to defend 
Norris, which he did. Norris was tried before a jury of 
twelve men in Mason County, and said jury, on the 5th of 
November, convicted him of manslaughter, and fixed the 
time he should serve in the penitentiary as eight years, 
and the judge sentenced him to serve that time in the 
penitentiary at hard labor, which he did, less time gained 
by good behavior. 

"William Duff Armstrong was granted a change of venue. 
November 5, 1857, to Cass County, Illinois, and was tried 
the next spring. William Walker and myself were em- 
ployed by Hannah Armstrong and Duff to defend him in 

.7 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

Cass County, Illinois. I cannot state for certain whether 
'Aunt Hannah' first sought the advice and help of Lincoln, 
or whether Lincoln first volunteered his services, but my 
recollection is that she first sought his aid. I understood 
after the trial of Duff that Mr. Lincoln told her he would 
make no charge for his services, because, he told her, 
she had spent more time, while he boarded with her, in 
darning his stockings and mending his clothes, than he 
had in defending her son in the trial, and as she never 
charged him anything, he would not charge her for his 
services. 

"You know that 'Old Abe,' as he was called, was a humor- 
ous kind of a man. At one time when I was in Beardstown. 
at a term of court, looking after the Armstrong case, Lin- 
coln was also there, and the judge, who had to come down 
on a steamboat from Pekin on the Illinois River, was long 
delayed. Lincoln and myself were at the same hotel in 
Beardstown, waiting for the judge, when Lincoln became 
very uneasy, and walked backward and forward, slowly, 
at the door of the hotel, when finally he spelled out — 
't-e-j-u-s, t-e-j-u-s,' pronouncing the word as spelled twice. 

"In regard to the almanac question, there was a witness 
who testified that after eleven o'clock, when the moon was 
shining brightly, he saw Duff Armstrong strike Metzker 
with a club. Lincoln and my partner, William Walker, 
introduced the almanac of 1857, showing that the moon 
set before eleven o'clock, which proved that the witness 
was swearing to a falsehood as regarded the shining of the 
moon. Now some one started the story that the almanac 
introduced was not one of the date of 1857, but of a former 
date showing the setting of the moon before eleven o'clock. 
. . . My partner, Walker, would have told me about it if 
such a trick had been performed at the trial, but he never 
did. Some years ago, I examined an almanac of 1857, 
which showed the setting of the moon was before eleven 
o'clock, and that it was the right almanac to introduce. 
A year or two before Duff Armstrong died, I had a con- 
versation with him in Mason City, Mason County, Illinois, 
and he said there was no truth in the story that an almanac 
of a different date than 1857 was introduced. The above 

48 





5 1 
o -I 

1-3 -S 



- £ 



Lincoln and the Armstrong Case 

charge is untrue, and is what I referred to in my former 
letter. . . . 

"I practiced law with Herndon in the 'fifties and the 
'sixties, and he often talked to me about Lincoln, whom he 
liked very much, and afterward wrote his history, f Hern- 
don was Lincoln's law partner twenty years.] 

"At the time of the Armstrong trial, Lincoln was not 
looked upon as the great man he is to-day, only that he was 
a very good and successful lawyer. No one ever dreamed 
that he would be President. He was a man of great com- 
mon sense, and an amusing story-teller. He knew how to 
please the common people, and everybody liked him per- 
sonally. Yours truly, 

"Lyman Lacey, Sr." 

Miss Ida M. Tarbell says, in McClure's Magazine, 
that Lincoln told the jury in the Armstrong case that 
he was not there as a hired attorney, but to discharge 
a debt of gratitude. Duff Armstrong said: "Uncle 
Abe did his best talking when he told the jury what true 
friends my father and mother had been to him in the 
early days. He told how he used to go out to Jack 
Armstrong's and stay for days; how kind mother was 
to him; and how, many a time, he had rocked me to 
sleep in the old cradle." 

J. M. Hobson, now in his eighty-first year, and who, 
for many years, has resided in Winterset, Iowa, recently 
informed me that he was acquainted with "Aunt Han- 
nah." She was married the second time to Samuel 
Wilcox. She died in Winterset, August 15, 1890, at 
the age of seventy-nine. 

Mr. Hobson further said: "The son that Lincoln 
took an interest in was here fifteen or sixteen years 
ago. His name was William, but they called him 
"Duffy." We had a revival meeting at our church, and 
lie attended. I took an interest in him, and tried to 

49 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

get him to be a Christian. He did not make a start 
then, and I do not know whether he did later or not.*' 

Duff Armstrong was a soldier in the Civil War, and 
died a widower, in 1899, at his daughter's, near Easton, 
Mason County, Illinois. 

"Aunt Hannah" has a number of relatives in Winter- 
set, Iowa, among them Mrs. Martha McDonald, her 
step-daughter and daughter-in-law. She was first mar- 
ried to Robert, a son of "Aunt Hannah." He died sev- 
eral years ago. I am indebted to Mrs. McDonald, 
through J. M. Hobson, for the excellent picture of 
"Aunt Hannah" in this book, also for the picture of 
"Duff," taken late in life, as an every-day farmer. He 
was Mrs. McDonald's step-brother and brother-in-law. 



50 



CHAPTER VII. 
Lincoln's Temperance Principles 

Promise Made to His Mother — Writes a Temperance Article 
Before Leaving Indiana — Mr. Wood and Mr. Farmer — Did 
Lincoln Sell Whisky? — His Great Temperance Address — Testi- 
mony of Associates — Moses Martin's Letter — The Internal 
Revenue Bill. 

It is well known that Abraham Lincoln was strictly 
a temperance man. His early training was on that line. 
In his maturer years, while a member of Congress, 
when urged by an associate to drink on a certain occa- 
sion, he said, "I promised my precious mother only a 
few days before she died that I would never use any- 
thing intoxicating as a beverage, and I consider that 
promise as binding to-dav as it was on the day I made 
it." 

Among his first literary efforts, at his boyhood home 
in Indiana, was to write an article on temperance. Wil- 
liam Wood, living near by, was Lincoln's chief adviser 
in many things. He took a political and a temperance 
paper, and Lincoln read them thoroughly. He expressed 
a desire to try his hand at writing an article on temper- 
ance. Mr. Wood encouraged him, and the article was 
written. Aaron Farmer, a noted minister of the United 
Brethren Church, often stopped with Mr. Wood, who 
was a zealous and devoted member of the same church. 
Mr. Herndon and other Lincoln biographers are mis- 
taken in saying that Aaron Farmer was a minister of 
the Baptist Church. Henry Brooner told me that he 
joined the United Brethren Church at a grove meeting 

51 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

held in that part of the country by Aaron Farmer, in 
the fall of 1827. 

Lincoln's temperance article was shown Mr. Farmer 
by Mr. Wood, and he was so well pleased with it that 
he sent it to an Ohio paper, in which it was published. 
Lincoln, at this time, was seventeen or eighteen years 
old. I was acquainted with James, Andrew, Robert, 
and Charles, aged sons of William Wood, all of whom 
knew Lincoln. They have all passed away. In the year 
1888, I officiated at the funeral of Mrs. Nancy Arm- 
strong, one of Mr. Wood's daughters, at her home, 
which was the old home of her father, where Lincoln 
was always a welcome visitor. William L. Wood, a 
grandson of Lincoln's adviser, now living at Dale, and 
whom I have known for many years, says his grand- 
father was a temperance worker. 

Mr. Farmer had a literary turn of mind, and pub- 
lished a paper called Zion's Advocate, at Salem, Indi- 
ana, in 1829, but this was about two years after Lin- 
coln's temperance article was written. The United 
Brethren Church organ, the Religious Telescope, now 
published at Dayton, Ohio, was first published at Circle- 
ville, Ohio, in 1834, but this was still later. Query: 
In what paper in Ohio was Lincoln's temperance article 
printed? Mr. Farmer died March 1, 1839, while serv- 
ing as presiding elder of the Indianapolis District. 
William Wood, Lincoln's old friend and adviser, died 
at Dale, Spencer County, Indiana, December 28, 1867, 
at the age of eighty- three. 

Mr. Lincoln has been charged with selling whisky 
at New Salem, Illinois. Let us examine the facts and 
his own statement. In 1833, he and Mr. Berry bought 
out three groceries in New Salem. Berry was a drink- 

52 



Lincoln's Temperanc e Principles 

ing man and not a suitable partner for Lincoln. At 
that time grocery stores usually kept whisky on sale, so 
the firm had quite a stock of whisky on hand, along 
with other commodities. Drinking was common then. 
Even some ministers of the gospel would take their 
"dram." It appears that Lincoln trusted Berry to run 
the business. It is doubtful if Lincoln himself sold 
whisky, although his name was connected with the firm. 
The firm failed. Berry died, leaving Lincoln the debts 
to pay. 

Mr. Douglas, in his debates with Lincoln, twitted 
him as having been a "grocery keeper" and selling 
whisky. In replying, Lincoln jokingly said Mr. Doug- 
las was one of his best customers, and said he had left 
his side of the counter, while Douglas stuck to his side 
as tenaciously as ever. When Lincoln laid aside his 
jokes he declared that he never sold whisky in his life. 
(See Chapter IX.) 

Mr. Lincoln often "preached" what he called his 
"sermon to boys," as follows: "Don't drink, don't 
gamble, don't smoke, don't lie, don't cheat. Love your 
fellow-men, love God, love truth, love virtue, and be 
happy." 

On the 2 2d of February, 1842, he made a strong 
address before the Washingtonian Temperance Society, 
in the Second Presbyterian Church, Springfield, Illi- 
nois, in which he said: "Whether or not the world 
would be vastly 'benefited by a total and final banish- 
ment from it of all intoxicating drinks, seems to me not 
now an open question. Three-fourths of mankind con- 
fess the affirmative with their tongues, and, I believe, 
all the rest acknowledge it in their hearts." 

53 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

Leonard Swett, who, for eleven years was associated 
with Lincoln in law in the Eighth Judicial District of 
Illinois, said, "Lincoln never tasted liquor, never 
chewed tobacco or smoked." 

The late Philip Clark, of Mattoon, Illinois, an old- 
time friend of Lincoln, is reported to have said: "We 
were together one night in a country neighborhood, 
when some one proposed that we all go to church, close 
by, to hear the Rev. John Berry preach a temperance 
sermon. After listening intently, Abe remarked to me 
that that subject would some time be one of the greatest 
in this country." 

In the year 1847, Lincoln made a number of temper- 
ance addresses and circulated a total abstinence pledge, 
urging persons to sign it. Among those who signed 
the pledge presented by Mr. Lincoln were Moses Martin 
and Cleopas Breckenridge, who are still living. Recently 
I wrote to Mr. Martin, asking him to furnish for this 
book a statement concerning his recollections of Lincoln 
and his temperance speech. He promptly answered, as 
follows : 

"Edinburg, Illinois, January 14, 1909. 
"Mr. J. T. Hobson, Dear Sir: — I heard Abraham Lincoln 
lecture on temperance in 1847, at the South Fork school- 
house. He came out from Springfield. He had gotten up 
a pledge. It was called the Washingtonian pledge. He 
made a very forcible lecture, the first temperance lecture 
I ever heard, and the first one ever delivered in our neigh- 
borhood. It was in the grove, and a large crowd came out 
to hear the lecture. Lincoln asked if any one had anything 
to say, for it or against it, while he circulated the pledge, 
he would hear from them. My old friend, Preston Breck- 
enridge, got up and made a very forcible talk. He signed 
the pledge, and all his children. Cleopas was his son. 
Nearly every one there signed it. Preston went out lectur- 

54 



Lincoln's 'Temperance Principles 

ing. I usually went with him and circulated the pledge 
copied after Abraham Lincoln's pledge. It read as follows: 
'Whereas, the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage is 
productive of pauperism, degradation, and crime, and 
believing it is our duty to discourage that which produces 
more evil than good; we, therefore, pledge ourselves to 
abstain from the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage.' 
When I signed Lincoln's pledge I was about nineteen years 
old. I am now eighty years old. 

"Moses Martin." 

At my request, Mr. Martin kindly sent Ins picture 
for this book. Cleopas Breekenridge, who is referred 
to in Mr. Martin's letter, is living, in his seventy-third 
year, at Custer, Illinois. As he has furnished a state- 
ment for other publications, he writes that he prefers 
not to furnish it again. It may be said, however, that 
he was ten years old when Lincoln, by permission, wrote 
his name under the pledge, then placing his hand on 
the little boy's head, said, "Now, sonny, you keep that 
pledge, and it will be the best act of your life." In his 
long life, subject to many temptations, Mr. Brecken- 
ridge has faithfully kept his pledge made at Mr. Lin- 
coln's temperance meeting. 

On the 29th of September, 1863, in response to an 
address from the Sons of Temperance in Washington, 
president Lincoln said : 

"If I were better known than I am, you would not need 
to be told that, in the advocacy of the cause of temperance 
you have a friend and a sympathizer in me. When I was 
a young man — long ago — before the Sons of Temperance 
as an organization had an existence, I, in a humble way. 
made temperance speeches, and I think I may say that to 
this day I have never, by my example, belied what I then 
said. ... I think the reasonable men of the world have 
long since agreed that intemperance is one of the greatest, 

55 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

if not the very greatest, of all evils among mankind. This 
is not a matter of dispute, I believe. That the disease 
exists, and that it is a very great one, is agreed upon by 
all. The mode of cure is one about which there may be 
differences of opinion." 

It is true that President Lincoln, during the awful 
pressure of the Civil War, signed the Internal Eevenue 
Bill, (H. E., No. 312,) to raise money from various 
sources to support the Government, among which was 
the licensing of retail dealers in intoxicating liquors. 
This bill was warmly discussed. Some years ago, I 
read these discussions in the "Congressional Record," 
of May 27, 1862. Senators Wilson, Pomeroy, Harris, 
and Wilmot opposed the licensing of the sale of intoxi- 
cants in the strongest manner. Mr. Lincoln threatened 
to veto the bill, but, as a war measure, and, acting under 
dire necessity, with the assurance that the bill would be 
repealed when the war was over, he reluctantly signed 
the bill, July 1, 1862. Up to this time, however, the 
bill has never been repealed. There have been some 
changes made, among which the w r ord "license" was 
changed to "special tax," but the import is practically 
the same. 



56 



CHAPTER VIII. 
Lincoln as a Prohibitionist 

Major J. B. Merwin and Abraham Lincoln — They Together Can- 
vass Illinois for State Prohibition in 1854-55 — Lincoln's Argu- 
ments Against the Saloon — Facts Omitted by Lincoln's 
Biographers — President Lincoln, Generals Scott and Butler 
Recommend Merwin's Temperance Work in the Army — The 
President Sends Merwin on a Mission to New York the Day 
of the Assassination — Proposition for Freedmen to Dig Pan- 
ama Canal — Lincoln's Last Words to Merwin — Merwin's Char- 
acteristic Address at Lincoln's Tomb — '"Lincoln, the Christian 
Statesman" — Merwin Living at Middlefield, Connecticut. 

It will, no doubt, be of interest to here introduce a 
man who, perhaps, knew Mr. Lincoln as well as any 
man now living. It is Major J. B. Merwin, of Middle- 
field, Connecticut, who is now eighty years old. He is 
a noted educator and lecturer. He formerly resided in 
St. Louis, Missouri, and was the founder of "The 
American Journal of Education," in that city in 1867. 
Since that time he has written much and lectured 
widely on educational and literary subjects. 

Learning of his associations with Mr. Lincoln, that 
they together campaigned the State of Illinois for State 
prohibition in 1854-55, I wrote Mr. Merwin for some 
items relative to his acquaintance and associations with 
the great emancipator. In his reply, Mr. Merwin said : 

"I mail you a very brief resume of my connection with 
Mr. Lincoln from 1854 on, up to the day he was assassin- 
ated. This will answer your query and request, I think, 
fully. Of course the address made at the tomb of the 
great, dear man, on May 26, 1904, was greatly abridged for 
lack of space, but many essential points you will be able 
to gather from what I send you. And I am glad to do this, 
for nearly all his biographers ignore both his prohibition 
and his religious work and character." 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

From what Mr. Merwin furnished, as stated in his 
letter, the following facts are here presented : 

Mr. Merwin, then a young man, was a temperance 
lecturer in Connecticut, in 1851, during which year he 
and Neal Dow both addressed the legislature in behalf 
of State prohibition. A resident of Springfield, Illinois, 
then visiting in Hartford, being interested in the ques- 
tion, gained admittance to this legislative session, and 
was much pleased with Mr. Merwin's presentation of 
the subject. He afterward took it upon himself to 
invite Mr. Merwin to visit Springfield and deliver the 
same address before the Illinois Legislature. The invi- 
tation was accepted, and the following winter Mr. 
Merwin began a temperance campaign in Illinois. His 
first address was made at the capital. At this time the 
legislature was considering the submission of the pro- 
hibition question to the people, and as the question met 
with great opposition from the leaders of the two politi- 
cal parties, who feared to jeopardize the liquor interests, 
the speaker from the East was not permitted to address 
the legislature as a body, and spoke instead in the 
representative hall. 

It was at this meeting that he first met Lincoln, who 
was immediately touched by the young speaker's words 
and enthusiastically accepted his message. Mr. Lincoln 
invited Mr. Merwin home with him that night, but, 
knowing nothing of the character of the man, Mr. 
Merwin asked the advice of a friend, who said, "Most 
certainty, if Mr. Lincoln invites you, go." Mr. Merwin 
says : "We were barely inside his door, and even before 
he asked me to be seated, he wanted to know if I had 
a copy of the Maine law with me. I had, and we spent 
until four o'clock in the morning discussing its fea- 

58 



Lincoln as a Prohibitionist 

tures."' The matter of a prohibition canvass was out- 
lined, and Mr. Lincoln volunteered to put the whole 
matter before Richard Yates, afterwards Illinois' war 
governor, but who was then Grand Worthy Patriarch of 
the Sons of Temperance. Mr. Yates was quick to see 
the strength of the new idea, and himself arranged the 
first series of rallies where Lincoln and Merwin spoke. 

The meeting at Jacksonville was presided over by 
Richard Yates. Among the places at which they spoke 
were Bellville, Bloomington, Peoria, Edwardsville, and 
Decatur. Mr. Lincoln's political friends were alarmed 
for him because of his radicalism on the temperance 
question, and made a combined effort to silence him, 
but he continued in the fight. 

Prohibition did not carry in its submission to the 
people, but it is said that the votes of forty counties 
were changed in favor of State prohibition. 

After the campaign of 1854-55, Mr. Merwin's friend- 
ship with Lincoln continued without a break up to the 
latters assassination. Soon after the commencement 
of the war, Mr. Merwin's unceasing advocacy of the 
great reform won him personal recognition, and it was 
suggested by prominent military men that he should 
be officially appointed, and be permitted the freedom 
of the camps in the interests of personal temperance 
work, need of which was widely evident. What Presi- 
dent Lincoln and Generals Scott and Butler wrote on 
the back of the recommendation, as endorsements, is 
here given. Mr. Merwin has the original manuscript : 

"If it be ascertained at the War Department that the 
President has legal authority to make an appointment such 
as is asked within, and Gen. Scott is of opinion it will be 
available for good, then let it be done. 

"July 17, 1861. A. LiNCor.x." 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

"I esteem the mission of Mr. Merwin to this army a 
happy circumstance, and request all commanders to give 
him free access to all our camps and posts, and also to 
multiply occasions to enable him to address our officers 
and men. Winfield Scott, 

"July 24, 1861. Department of Virginia.''' 

"The mission of Mr. Merwin will be of great benefit to 
the troops, and I will furnish him with every facility to 
address the troops under my command. I hope the Gen'l 
commanding the army will give him such official position 
as Mr. Merwin may desire to carry out his object. 

"August 8, 1861. B. F. Butler, Maj-Gen. Com'd'g." 

The testimonial to the warm appreciation of Mr. 
Merwin's usefulness in the army as a temperance worker 
is signed by Isaac N. Arnold, 0. H. Browning, Charles 
Sumner, Alexander W. Kandall, W. A. Buckingham, 
Eichard Yates, James Harlan, Alexander Kamsey, A. B. 
Palmer, John F. Potter, J. L. Scripps, Lyman Trum- 
bull, Henry Wilson, J. R. Doolittle, Austin Blair, 
Thomas Drummond, James W. Grimes, Samuel J. 
Kirkwood, Timothy 0. How r e, David Wilmot, and more 
than one hundred others. They comprise those of gov- 
ernors, senators, congressmen, and postmasters. 

In 1862, President Lincoln again wrote a special 
order to facilitate his work at the front, as follows, the 
original still being in Mr. Merwin's possession : 

"Surgeon General will send Mr. Merwin wherever he 
may think the public service may require. 
"July 24, 1862. A. Lincoln." 

Throughout the war Mr. Merwin was in close per- 
sonal touch w T ith the nation's executive, and had a 
passport, given him by Mr. Lincoln, which admitted 
him to the White House at any time, day or night, 

60 



Lincoln as a Prohibitionist 

except during the session of the cabinet. On the day 
of his assassination the President had Mr. Merwin to 
dine with him, and that afternoon sent him on an 
import-ant mission to New York. 

It will be a matter of interest to many to know that 
Mr. Lincoln looked very favorably upon a proposal that 
had been made for the excavation and completion of the 
Panama Canal by means of the labor of the freedmen. 
Those close to the President at the time were aware 
of the fact that he favored the plan, and it was for the 
purpose of securing the views of Horace Greeley, of the 
New York Tribune, and other molders of public 
thought, in regard to the plan, that he called Major 
Merwin to the White House on the fatal Friday, April 
14, 1865, the day that he was shot. After the Presi- 
dent had explained this business to Mr. Merwin, perhaps 
recalling again those stirring times ten years before, 
when he had campaigned with him, he said, "After 
reconstruction, the next great question will be the over- 
throw of the liquor traffic." 

That evening Mr. Merwin was on his way to New 
York, and the following morning, as he stepped from 
the train in that city, he heard the terrible news of the 
assassination at Ford's Theater, the night before. 

Mr. Merwin says that Mr. Lincoln talked freely with 
him on the overthrow of the liquor traffic, and it is his 
strong conviction that if his life had been spared, even 
a decade, he would have emphasized Ins lifelong devo- 
tion to the temperance cause with an open and decisive 
championship of State and National prohibition. The 
slavery issue had come unforeseen into his life and 
swept him heart and soul into the very vortex of that 
terrific struggle. As he often expressed it, "there must 

61 



Fo o t pri nts of Abraham Lincoln 

be one war at a time," and the one that called him first 
was not of his own choosing in point of order. 

The abridged address on "Lincoln as a Prohibition- 
ist/ 7 delivered by Major Merwin at the Lincoln Monu- 
ment, at Springfield, Illinois, May 26, 1904, which he 
furnished for this book, is here given. It was printed 
in the New Voice, Chicago, June 16, 1904, to which I 
am indebted for a number of the foregoing items, some 
of which were marked by Major Merwin with a blue 
pencil. 

After a brief introduction by Mr. Alonzo Wilson, 
chairman of the State Prohibition Committee, Mr. Mer- 
win, standing on one of the steps of the stairway of the 
monument, with a beautiful flag covering a part of the 
balustrade, said: 

"We stand to-day in the heart of the continent, midway 
between the two oceans, within the shadow of the monu- 
ment of the man who made more history — who made 
greater history than any other person, than all other per- 
sons who lived in the nineteenth century! A leader of the 
people, who was great in their greatness, who carried their 
burdens, who, with their help, achieved a name and a fame 
unparalleled in human history. He broke the shackles of 
four millions of slaves. He saved to the world this form 
of government, which gives to all our people the oppor- 
tunity to walk, if they will, down the corridors of time, 
arm in arm with the great of all ages, sheltered and in- 
spired by the flag which has become the symbol of hope 
and of freedom to all the world! 

"In God's good providence, I came to know him — here in 
his humble home in Springfield, in 1854, and before he had 
come to be the hero, beloved, glorified, known and loved 
by all who love liberty. It was in the autumn of 1854. 
I was a young man full of all the enthusiasm of those first 
Neal Dow triumphs in New England. Accepting the invi- 
tation of friends, I came to Illinois, where the campaign 

62 



Lincoln as a Prohibitionist 

for State prohibition was getting under way. I reached 
Springfield, and one night had the privilege of speaking in 
the old State House, where, with legislators and towns- 
people, I found an appreciative audience. 

"After my address, there were calls of 'Lincoln! Lincoln! 
Lincoln!' and turning, I saw, perhaps, the most singular 
specimen of a human being rising slowly, and unfolding 
his long arms and his long legs, exactly like the blades of 
a jack-knife. His hair was uncombed, his coat sleeves were 
inches shorter than his shirt sleeves, his trousers did not 
reach to his socks. First I thought there was some plan 
to perpetrate a 'joke' on the meeting, but in one minute, 
after the first accents of the pathetic voice were heard, the 
crowd hushed to a stillness as profound as if Lincoln were 
the only person present, and then this simple, uncouth 
man gave to the hushed crowd such a definition of law, its 
design and mission, its object and power, such as few 
present had ever known or dreamed. Among the points 
he made were the following: 

"Mr. Lincoln asked, 'Is not the law of self-protection the 
first law of nature; the first primary law of civilized 
society?' 'Law,' he declared, 'is for the protection, con- 
servation, and extension of right things, of right conduct; 
not for the protection of evil and wrong-doing.' 

" 'The State must, in its legislative action, recognize in 
the law enacted this principle — it must make sure and 
secure these endeavors to establish, protect, and extend 
right conditions, right conduct, righteousness. These con- 
ditions will be secured and preserved, not by indifference, 
not by a toleration of evils, not by attempting to throw 
around any evil the shield of law; never by any attempt 
to license the evil.' 

" 'This sentiment of right conduct for the protection of 
home, of state, of church, of individuals must be taken up 
and embodied in legislation, and thus become a positive 
factor, active in the state. This is the first and most 
important function in the legislation of the modern state.' 
Proceeding, Mr. Lincoln said: 'This saves the whole, and 
not a part, with a high, true conservatism through the 
united action of all, by all, for all. The prohibition of the 

63 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

liquor traffic, except for medical and mechanical purposes, 
thus becomes the new evangel for the safety and redemp- 
tion of the people from the social, political, and moral 
curse of the saloon, and its inevitable evil consequences of 
drunkenness.' 

"Lincoln studied every moral and political issue in this 
light and from this standpoint, and, as a result of this 
practice, he studied the opposite side of every question in 
dispute, and hence he was never surprised by the seeming 
strength of his opponents, for he saw at once the moral 
and legal weakness of wrong and untenable positions 
assumed. This it is that throws a flood of light on his 
ready and unanswerable repartee by story and statement. 
In fact, we have seen, often, that after his statement of a 
proposition it needed no argument. 

"Honorable Elihu B. Washburn, Lincoln's closest friend, 
wrote before he died that 'when the whole truth is dis- 
closed of Mr. Lincoln's life during the years of 1854-55, it 
will throw a flood of new light on the character of Mr. 
Lincoln, and will add new luster to his greatness and his 
patriotism.' 

"Mr. Lincoln had, as is well known, made up his mind 
to retire from the political arena. He was annoyed, yea, 
more, he was disgusted with the low plane on which the 
politicians, mere politicians, not statesmen, were trying to 
conduct the affairs of the nation. 

"Mr. Lincoln was feeling his way up and out of the 
gloom, despondency, and melancholy which had to so great 
an extent affected his life. There came to him a new light, 
a new revelation of destiny in those still creative, or rather 
recreative days, and it is this phase of things to which Mr. 
Washburn refers in the above lines. 

"It is a well-known fact that Mr. Lincoln hesitated to 
show his strength of conscience, as he did his wealth of 
goodness, lest it be counted as ostentation. He said often 
in 1854-55, 'The saloon and the liquor traffic have defend- 
ers — but no defense!' With him men were neither great 
nor small — they were right or wrong. He knew no fear 
except the fear of doing wrong. His expressions and con- 
duct on this question of the prohibition of the liquor traffic 

CA 




THE LINCOLN-BROONER GUN, 
Owned jointly by Abraham Lincoln and Henry Brooner in Indiana. 

Xoic owned by John E. Burton, Lake Genera, Wisconsin. 




RUTH JENNINGS HUFF, 
Daughter of Josiah Crawford, for whom 
Lincoln often labored as hired hand 
in Indiana. 




DAVID TURNHAM AND WIFE. 
Mr. Turriham, as Constable, loaned Lincoln the Revised Statutes of 
Indiana, the first law-book he ever studied. 



Lincoln as a Prohibitionist 

and the saloon were so firmly anchored on his profound 
convictions of right and wrong that they were immutable. 

"In that memorable canvass, Mr. Lincoln and myself 
spoke in Jacksonville, in Bloomington, in Decatur, in Dan- 
ville, in Carlinville, in Peoria, and at many other points. 

"The gist of Mr. Lincoln's argument was contained in 
this fearless declaration: 

" 'This legalized liquor traffic, as carried on in the saloons 
and grogshops, is the tragedy of civilization. Good citizen- 
ship demands and requires that what is right should not 
only be made known, but be made prevalent; that what is 
evil should not only be detected and defeated, but destroyed. 
The saloon has proved itself to be the greatest foe, the 
most blighting curse of our modern civilization, and this 
is why I am a practical prohibitionist. 

" 'We must not be satisfied until the public sentiment 
of this State, and the individual conscience shall be in- 
structed to look upon the saloon-keeper and the liquor- 
seller,, with all the license each can give him, as simply 
and only a privileged malefactor — a criminal.' 

"Mr. Lincoln used, in advocating the entire prohibition 
of the liquor traffic, nearly the same language, and in many 
instances the same illustrations that he used later on in 
his arguments against slavery. At another place he said : 

" 'The real issue in this controversy, the one pressing 
upon every mind that gives the subject careful considera- 
tion, is that legalizing the manufacture, sale, and use of 
intoxicating liquors as a beverage is a wrong — as all his- 
tory and every development of the traffic proves it to be — a 
moral, social, and political wrong.' 

"It should be stated distinctly, squarely, and fairly, and 
repeated often, that Mr. Lincoln was a practical total absti- 
nence man; wrote for it, worked for it, taught it, both by 
precept and by example; and when, from a long and varied 
experience, he found that the greed and selfishness of the 
liquor-dealers and the saloon-keepers overleaped and dis- 
regarded all barriers and every other restraint, and taught 
by the lessons of experience that nothing short of the 
entire prohibition of the traffic and the saloon would settle 
the question, he became an earnest, unflinching prohibi- 
tionist. 

65 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

"It has been said by those most competent to judge, that 
Mr. Lincoln surpassed all orators in eloquence, all diplo- 
mats in wisdom, all statesmen in foresight, and this makes 
him and his name a power not to be resisted as a political 
prohibitionist. 

"We do not say much about it, for it is not necessary, 
but there were times and occasions when Mr. Lincoln came 
to be, in his administration, greater than law — when his 
wisdom was greater than the combined wisdom of all the 
people. The people, the law-makers had never compre- 
hended the conditions and the situation that confronted 
him. He was as great as necessity, and our safety lay in 
the fact that he was as just as he was great, and as wise 
as he was just. Great in law, but greater in necessity. 

"God be praised for the great gifts he showered upon 
him; God be praised for the generous use he made of 
them. In the radiance of God's light and in the sunshine 
of his love from out the gates of pearl which were swung 
inward to his entrance by those who waited to welcome him 
thither, there opened to him that vast and bright eternity, 
vivid with God's love. We could wish for a moment the 
veil might be parted and we, too, could have vision that 
such labor shall be crowned with immortal rest. Hail, 
brother, and farewell." 

In a letter to me, of late date, Major Merwin writes : 

"None of us can get too many views of the good and 
great Lincoln, and the world grows better for all we 
know, or can learn of him. ... I spoke in New Haven 
last Sunday evening in one of the largest churches in the 
old college town. The house was packed with Yale stu- 
dents and others. The subject was, 'Lincoln, the Christian 
Statesman,' emphasizing the religious phase of the man, 
much to the surprise of many present. This was the real 
source of hi« strength. He was larger than any or all so- 
called 'denominations,' and yet a multitude find both com- 
fort and strength in these various divisions, and Lincoln's 
heart was glad it was so." 

66 



Lincoln as a Prohibitionist 

It should have been stated, in connection with Mr. 
Merwin's temperance record in the army, that General 
Winneld Scott, after hearing several addresses made by 
Mr. Merwin from President Lincoln's carriage, to the 
regiments gathering in Washington, said to the Presi- 
dent, "A man of such force and moral power to inspire 
courage, patriotism, faith, and obedience among the 
troops is worth more than a half-dozen regiments of raw 
recruits." 

As before stated, Mr. Merwin is now in his eightieth 
year, and resides at Middlefield, Connecticut. In his 
last letter to me, dated January 14, 1909, referring to 
the above paragraph, he says, "I am not now equal to 
6,000 men, but am able to tell the story of the plain, 
great man, whose name is now, and ever will be a glory 
on the nation's brow." 



CHAPTER IX. 
Lincoln and the Slavery Question 

An Ancient Institution — The Evils of Slavery — Lincoln Always 
Opposed to Slavery— Relic of "Cruel Slavery Days" — -Discus- 
sions, Laws, and Compromises — The Missouri Compromise — 
The Fugitive Slave Law — The Kansas-Nebraska Bill — Lincoln 
Aroused — He Answers Douglas — It. L. McCord Names Lincoln 
His Candidate for President — A New Political Party — "Bleed- 
ing Kansas" — The Dred Scott Decision — "The Underground 
Railroad" — The John Brown Raid — The Approaching Crisis. 

It may be wondered what future generations will 
think when they read the history of our country and 
learn that within the memory of many of those who 
now live this Government tolerated and protected that 
"sum of all villainies^ — human slavery. Slavery arose 
at an early period in the world's history out of the acci- 
dent of capture in war. As an institution it has existed 
in many countries for ages. Unfortunately, in the first 
settling of the United States, slavery was tolerated, and 
allowed to spread as the country developed. This was 
especially true of the Southern States. 

The many attendant evils of slavery cannot here be 
mentioned. Slaves were largely kept in ignorance. In 
some States it was considered a crime, with heavy pen- 
alties, for any white person to teach a colored person to 
read or write. 

The traffic in human beings, as it then existed, is 
awful to think of. Husbands and wives, parents and 
children, brothers and sisters were often sold and sep- 
arated never to meet again. When the master died, his 
negroes were sold to the highest bidder, just like other 
property. 



Lincoln and the Slavery Question 

Abraham Lincoln was always opposed to slavery. 
When a young man he witnessed the cruelties of a slave 
market in New Orleans, where men, women, and chil- 
dren were sold like brutes. He then and there said, "If 
I ever have, a chance to hit that institution, I will hit it 
hard." In 1837, when he was only twenty-eight years 
old, he heard a sermon preached by a noted minister, in 
Illinois, on the interpretation of prophecy in its rela- 
tion to the breaking down of civil and religious tyranny. 
The sermon greatly impressed Mr. Lincoln, and he a1 
that time said to a friend, "Odd as it may seem, when 
he described those changes and revolutions, I was deeply 
impressed that I would be somehow strangely mixed up 
with them." 

Many slaveholders were otherwise good people, and 
their slaves were well treated. Ministers of the gospel 
and elmreh-members held slaves. Some of the author's 
maternal relatives were slaveholders. He remembers, 
when a small boy, during "cruel slavery days," hearing 
his grandfather relate a conversation he had w r ith a slave 
while on a late visit to his slaveholding brothers in 
Kentucky. The slave, a young man, was entering some 
complaint against slavery. Grandfather asked him, "Is 
your master kind to you?" "Yes, sir," answered the 
slave. "Do you have plenty to eat and wear?" "Oh, 
yes, sir." "Then why are you not satisfied?" "Oh, Mr. 
Todd, freedom, freedom." 

I have a letter, dated June 2, 1861, written to my 
grandfather by one of his Kentucky brothers. I remem- 
ber seeing this great uncle in 1865, when he was visiting 
in Indiana. He had administered on a brothers estate. 
The letter contains the following: "You wrote to know 
what I had done with the negroes. I sold them last 

m 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

March, one year ago. William Hooker bought Dicey 
and her youngest boy for $1,100. Franklin Todd, the 
son of brother Peter, bought the oldest boy for $700. I 
bought the second boy, the one born when you were here, 
for $535." My great-uncle says, in the same letter, 
that, on account of governmental affairs, "property" is 
not bringing its full value. 

The people of the North were generally opposed to 
slavery, and great bitterness of feeling was engendered 
between the Northern and Southern States. Among 
the great leaders in the anti-slavery movement were 
William Lloyd Garrison, Gerrit Smith, Wendell Phil- 
lips, John G. Whittier, Joshua R. Giddings, William 
H. Seward, and Charles Sumner. The institution of 
slavery had become a great power, and had interwoven 
itself into the social, moral, religious, and political 
fabrics of the country. 

Whenever a territory sought admission into the 
Union as a State, a great controversy arose as to whether 
it should be admitted as a free or a slave State. The 
halls of Congress resounded with the eloquence of great 
statesmen on both sides of the question, because "there 
were giants in those days." A good portion of the time 
of Congress was taken in discussing some phase of the 
slavery question. Bad temper was often exhibited, and 
great interests were at stake. On some occasions Henry 
Clay would propose a compromise, which being accepted, 
would have a tendency to lull the storm which, sooner 
or later, was to burst forth in all its fury. Anti-slavery, 
abolition, and various organizations were formed. 

In the North various opinions existed on the subject 
of slavery. Some were opposed to its extension, but did 
not wish to interfere with it where it already existed. 

70 



Lincoln and the Slavery Question 

Others were more ultra, chief of whom was William 
Lloyd Garrison, whose motto was to destroy slavery or 
destroy the Union. He finally came to the conclusion 
that the Constitution of the United States favored slav- 
ery, and declared it to be "a covenant with death and 
an agreement with hell. 7 ' 

In 1820 the territory of Missouri sought admission 
into the Union. The question as to whether it should 
be admitted as a free or a slave State was so warmly 
and violently discussed in Congress that many were 
alarmed lest it would lead to the dissolution of the 
Union. The territory was finally admitted as a slave 
State, but on the express condition that slavery would 
forever be excluded from all that part of the territory 
of the United States lying north of 36 degrees and 30 
minutes. This provision was known as "the Missouri 
Compromise." 

In 1850 the "Fugitive Slave Law" was passed by 
Congress, which was, in part, to the effect that it was a 
penal offense to render any accommodations, assistance, 
or show any favors whatever to runaway slaves ; also 
that officers were empowered to compel citizens, in the 
North as well as in the South, to assist in the capture 
of such slaves. 

As the Missouri Compromise forever excluded slavery 
from the northwestern territories, the "forever" termi- 
nated when Congress, in May, 1854, passed the cele- 
brated Kansas-Nebraska Bill, introduced by Stephen A. 
Douglas, the Democratic Senator from Illinois. Its 
main provision was that each territory seeking admis- 
sion into the Union might decide by vote of its inhabi- 
tants whether it should be admitted as a free or a slave 
State. This virtually repealed the Missouri Compro- 

71 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

mise, which Douglas had declared "to be sacred," and 
a. law which "no human hand should destroy." This 
act was considered such a flagrant violation of a trust, 
breaking down all legal barriers to the possible spread 
of slavery, that it aroused great indignation throughout 
the North. 

Mr. Lincoln, just prior to the passage of the Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill, as already stated by Mr. Merwin in the 
last chapter, had become inactive in politics, and had 
given himself more fully to the practice of law. In 
furnishing a short biography of himself for a friend, in 
1859, he said, "I was losing interest in politics when 
the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me 
again." He now saw the great danger of slavery enlarg- 
ing its territory indefinitely, and was alarmed at the 
serious nature of the situation. 

When Mr. Douglas discovered the unpopularity of his 
famous bill, he hastened to Springfield and other places 
in Illinois, to explain matters. On the 4th of October, 
1854, he spoke in the State House at the time of the 
State Fair. It was expected that Lyman Trumbull, a 
noted Whig politician of Illinois, would reply, but he 
did not appear. Seeing the coast clear, Mr. Douglas 
spread himself, and made a great speech. He was small 
in stature and somewhat bombastic in his style of deliv- 
ery. He was popularly known among his friends as the 
"Little Giant." Mr. Lincoln had been urged to reply 
to Mr. Douglas, and, after some persuasion, consented 
to do so. That day he made his first great political 
speech. It is stated that "all the smothered fires of his 
broody days and nights and years burst forth in a power 
and with an eloquence which even those who knew him 

72 



Lincoln and the Slavery Question 

best had not so much as hoped for." Among other 
things, he said : 

"My distinguished friend, Douglas, says it is an insult 
to the emigrants to Kansas and Nebraska to suppose that 
they are not able to govern themselves. We must not slur 
over an argument of this kind because it happens to tickle 
the ear. It must be met and answered. I admit that the 
emigrant to Kansas and Nebraska is competent to govern 
himself, but I deny his right to govern any other person 
without that person's consent:' 

I now introduce to my readers one who heard Mr. 
Douglas and Mr. Lincoln on that occasion, fifty-four 
years ago. It is Rev. R. L. McCord, now in his seventy- 
ninth year. He is an intelligent and highly-respected 
citizen of Lake City, Iowa, and one of my most valued 
parishioners. I shall let Mr. McCord speak for himself: 

"I was then twenty-four years of age, and in my second 
year as a student in the Illinois Congregational College at 
Jacksonville, thirty miles west of Springfield. Some of 
my college mates and I heard Mr. Douglas and Mr. Lincoln 
speak in the State House, in the fall of 1854. The people 
were wearied with the lengthy speech of Judge Douglas. 
When Mr. Lincoln began his reply, for about fifteen min- 
utes he kept the audience in an uproar of laughter and 
applause. Then he waded into the subject of 'free speech, 
free soil, and free men,' much to the confusion of the man 
who 'didn't care whether slavery was voted up or down.' 
During Mr. Lincoln's reply, Judge Douglas several times 
interrupted him, saying he was misrepresented. Mr. Lin- 
coln, in his good nature, allowed him to explain a number 
of times. At one point he was very much worked up, and, 
pointing his finger at Mr. Lincoln, vehemently demanded a 
chance to explain. In a very excited manner, Judge Doug- 
las tried to set himself right, using about fifteen minutes 
of Mr. Lincoln's time. After he was through, Mr. Lincoln 
spread his mouth, and, with a broad smile, said, 'I believe 

73 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

the "Little Giant" is somewhat agitated,' and, without 
further attention to the judge, proceeded with his speech. 
I was so impressed with Mr. Lincoln's speech that on 
leaving the State House, I said to my college mates, 'Lin- 
coln is my candidate for President at the next election.' 
This was six years before Mr. Lincoln was nominated at 
Chicago. The next evening, with my college mates, we 
called upon Mr. Lincoln at his home and complimented 
him for his great speech. He received us kindly, shook 
hands with us, and thanked us for our call. This was my 
first meeting with Mr. Lincoln, but I met him and heard 
him speak a number of times afterward." 

This speech of Mr. Lincoln's was a noted one, and 
nearly all his biographers mention it, but it has not 
been left on record, except in small extracts. Mr. 
McCord's statement, made for this book, is interesting, 
and all will be glad to see the picture of his friendly 
and intellectual face as it now appears. 

The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill and its 
effects was the means of the destruction of the Whig 
party, to which Mr. Lincoln belonged, the disruption of 
other party lines, and the organization of a new party 
with Abraham Lincoln as its acknowledged leader, which 
in a few years was to decide the destinies of the United 
States Government. It also had the effect of bringing 
about a state of civil war in Kansas. Thousands of pro- 
and anti-slavery people flocked to Kansas to help decide 
the destiny of that territory. Illegal votes, bogus legis- 
latures, mobs, murders, incendiary acts, and general 
lawlessness were some of the fruits of Mr. Douglas' 
famous bill for popular sovereignty, better known as 
"squatter sovereignty." 

In 1857, Chief-Justice Taney of the United States 
Supreme Court, with a majority of his associates, de- 
cided on a test case, known as the "Dred Scott Case," 

74 



Lincoln and the Slavery Question 

that when the Constitution of the United States was 
formed and adopted, a negro slave was not a person, but 
simply a piece of property, — a thing, — and that his 
master could lawfully take his slaves anywhere he 
pleased, just as he could his horses and his cattle. 

The Kansas-Nebraska Bill, the Fugitive Slave Law, 
and the Dred Scott Decision greatly aroused the North. 
Some declared that the latter two laws should not be 
carried out. This increased the hostility of the South. 
Many persons in the North assisted in what was called 
the "underground railroad'' — secretly assisting slaves 
on their way to Canada for freedom. 

When a small boy, just beginning to read, I remember 
seeing at my Grandfather Todd's, in southern Indiana, 
copies of the Louisville Journal (now the Courier- 
Journal) with whole columns of short advertisements, 
offering rewards for runaway slaves. Such advertise- 
ments could easily be recognized at a glance, for each 
one had a small picture of a slave with a carpet-sack on 
his back making long strides for liberty. 

The leading opponents of slavery were bitterly hated 
and persecuted. William Lloyd Garrison was mobbed 
in the city of Boston, and it was with great difficulty 
that his life was saved. Elijah P. Lovejoy. who pub- 
lished an anti-slavery paper at Alton, Illinois, was shot 
down by a mob while defending his property and plead- 
ing for free speech. Charles Sumner, because of a 
speech he made, was brutally assaulted while sitting in 
his chair in the L^nited States Senate, and was so beaten 
that he was compelled to give up his seat in Congress 
for four years. 

It was well known that neither moral suasion nor the 
ordinary political methods would ever do away with 

75 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

the curse of slavery. The people of the North debated, 
prayed, preached, and voted against slavery, while the 
people of the South were equally zealous in defending 
slavery, contending it was a divine institution. 

While matters were in such an unsettled condition a 
great explosion occurred in the fall of 1859 which 
startled the entire nation. John Brown, who had ren- 
dered valuable service in keeping slavery out of Kansas, 
with an armed force of seventeen men, made a raid 
upon Harper's Ferry, Virginia, captured the United 
States arsenal, and for some time held the United States 
army at bay before he was captured. He had planned 
for a general insurrection among the slaves, believing 
that their emancipation depended largely upon them- 
selves. Brown's plans were forced before he was ready. 
It was a rash act, and was not approved by the North, 
but strongly condemned. Brown and others who sur- 
vived the conflict were executed for inciting an insur- 
rection, murder, and treason. Brown was a brave and 
sincere man, but fanatical. As the explosion of the 
Maine hastened the Spanish-American War, so the 
John Brown raid was an important link in the chain of 
events to hasten the downfall of slavery. Seward's 
"irrepressible conflict" was at hand, and his "higher 
law" was soon to prevail. 



CHAPTER X. 
The Lincoln and Douglas Debates 

Candidates for the United States Senate — Seven Joint I ><-l>;i 

The Faramonnt Issue — The "Divided House" — "Acts of a 
Drama" — Douglas Charged Lincoln with Selling Whisky 
Lincoln's Denial — A Discovery — Site of the Old Still Bouse In 
Indiana — Douglas Elected — Lincoln, the Champion of Human 
Liberty. 

In 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas 
were candidates for the United States Senate from Illi- 
nois. Mr. Douglas, who was a Democrat, bad already 
served as Senator, and was a candidate for reelection. 
Mr. Lincoln was the Republican nominee. Both had 
had considerable experience in politics. Arrangements 
were made between them to jointly discuss the political 
issues at seven different places, namely, Ottawa, August 
21; Freeport, August 27; Jonesboro, Septem!>er 15; 
Charlestown, September 18; Galesburg, October 7; 
Quincy, October 13, and Alton, October 15. 

These were the most noted public debates in Ameri- 
can history. The slavery question, with its various side 
issues, was the chief topic of discussion. These debates 
were listened, to by immense concourses of people, and 
excited the interest of the whole country. Mr. Lincoln 
assumed that slavery was wrong, and opposed the exten- 
sion of it, while Mr. Douglas, without considering the 
moral phase of the question, was in favor of leaving to 
the vote of the inhabitants of a territory whether it 
should become a State with or without slavery. 

Mr. Lincoln's "divided house*' argument, first used 
at Springfield, in June, when he was nominated for 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

Senator, was one of the strongest applications of scrip- 
ture ever given. He said : 

"We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was 
initiated with the avowed object, and confident promise, 
of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the opera- 
tion of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, 
but has constantly augmented. In my opinion it will not 
cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. 
'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' I believe this 
Government cannot endure permanently half slave and 
half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do 
not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease 
to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the 
other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the 
further spread of it, and place it where the public mind 
shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate 
extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it 
shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as 
new — North as well as South." 

In the course of the debates, Mr. Lincoln said of 
slavery: 

"The real issue in this controversy — the one pressing 
upon every mind — is the sentiment on the part of one class 
that looks upon the institution of slavery as a wrong, and 
of another class that does not look upon it as a wrong. 
. . . Because we think it wrong, we propose a course of 
policy that shall deal with it as a wrong. We deal with it 
as any other wrong, in so far as we can prevent it from 
growing any larger, and so deal with it that in the run of 
time there may be some promise of an end to it." 

Because of the great principles involved, and the 
wide notoriety of these debates, Mr. Lincoln said, at 
Quincy : 

"I was aware, when it was first agreed that Judge Doug- 
las and I were to have these seven joint discussions, that 

78 



The Lincoln and Douglas Debates 

they were the successive acts of a drama — perhaps I should 
say, to be enacted, not merely in the face of audiences like 
this, but in the face of the nation, and, to some extent, by 
my relation to him, and not from anything in myself, in 
the face of the world; and I am anxious that they should 
be conducted with dignity and in good temper, which would 
be befitting the vast audiences before which it was con- 
ducted." 

In the first debate, at Ottawa, Mr. Douglas said, in 
reference to the early career of himself and Mr. Lincoln 
in Illinois : 

"I have known him for nearly twenty-five years. There 
were many points of sympathy between us when we first 
got acquainted. We were both comparatively boys, and 
both struggling with poverty in a strange land. I was a 
school teacher in the town of Winchester, and he a flourish- 
ing grocery-keeper in the town of Salem." 

It has been stated, in Chapter VII., that in those 
davs to be a "grocery-keeper" implied the selling of 
whisky. In his reply, Mr. Lincoln, using the third per- 
son, said: 

"The judge is woefully at fault about his early friend 
Lincoln being a 'grocery-keeper.' I don't know as it would 
be a great sin if I had been; but he is mistaken. Lincoln 
never kept a grocery anywhere in the world. It is true 
that Lincoln did work the latter part of one winter in a 
little still-house up at the head of a hollow." 

Here Lincoln plainly denies ever keeping a grocery. 
but the query arises, Where did he "work the latter part 
of one winter in a little still-house, up at the head of a 
hollow" ? In all the numerous Lincoln biographies I 
have ever examined I have never seen any reference to 
its location. But I have located the place. 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

Reference has been made to Henry Brooncr, one of 
Lincoln's early associates in Indiana. At the time of 
giving the other items, more than twenty years ago, 
already mentioned, "Uncle Henry" made this statement, 
written at the time, the original still preserved : 

"When I was about twenty-five years old [1829], Abra- 
ham Lincoln came to my house, where I now live, and left 
an article of agreement for me to keep. At that time, one 
mile north of here, there was a distillery owned by John 
Dutton. He employed John Johnston, Lincoln's step- 
brother, to run it that winter, and Lincoln left the article 
of agreement between the parties for me to keep." 

"Oh, Uncle Henry," said I, "find that paper, and I 
will give you ten dollars for it." He said his house 
burned afterward, and all his papers were destroyed. 
He afterward built a brick house near the same founda- 
tion. 

When "Uncle Henry" gave me this item, I had not 
read the celebrated Lincoln and Douglas debates, and, 
therefore, knew nothing of Lincoln's statement that he 
had worked at a still-house. When I read the debates, 
fifteen years later, and saw Lincoln's reference to his 
having "worked the latter part of one winter at a little 
still-house, up at the head of a hollow," I was at once 
struck with what "Uncle Henry" had told me. This 
certainly decides the fact that Lincoln had reference to 
the time when he worked at the Dutton distillery, when 
his step-brother, John Johnston, run it the winter 
before the Lincolns left for Illinois, in 1830. 

John Kemp, my old friend and a highly-respected 
citizen, now sixty-three years old, who was born and 
reared on a farm adjoining Henry Brooner, told me in 
July, 1903, in Washington, Indiana, that north of the 

80 




5a S^ 



EH o . 



H*5 




The Lincoln and Douglas Debates 

old Brooner farm there is an old farm still known as 
the "Dutton farm," and that he remembered seeing, 
often, when a small boy, near a spring, an old, dilapi- 
dated building called the "old still-house/' He had 
never heard of John Johnston or of Abraham Lincoln 
working there, for that was before he was born. "Uncle 
Henry" had been dead thirteen years, but I had the 
record of the statement he made to me. 

On a bright afternoon, September 7, 1903, Mr. Kemp 
took me in his buggy to see the place. The farm was 
then owned by John and Harmon Steineker, and is on 
the old Fredonia and Princeton highway, four miles 
southwest of Huntingburg, Dubois County, Indiana. 
Here is the "Dutton farm," and here is a spring in the 
barn lot. Just across the road, to the right, is where 
the old "still-house" stood, and there is the "hollow" 
running down through the forest. As I viewed the 
scene, I felt something within me akin to what old 
Archimedes felt when he discovered the solution to 
an important mathematical problem, and exclaimed, 
"Eureka! Eureka!" ("I have found it! I have found 
it!"). 

In the joint debates between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. 
Douglas, the latter carried the most popular applause, 
but the former made the deeper and more lasting 
impressions. Douglas was greeted with the loudest 
cheers, but when Lincoln closed, the people seemed sober 
and serious. As a result of the canvass, Mr. Lincoln 
had a majority of four thousand of the popular vote of 
the State, but it is stated that the legislative districts 
were so construed that Douglas received a majority of 
the ballots in the legislature, and was, therefore, re- 
turned to the United States Senate. The debates 

81 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

brought Mr. Lincoln to the front as an able and elo- 
quent champion of human liberty and prepared the way 
for his nomination and election to the presidency of the 
United States. 



82 



CHAPTER XI. 
Lincoln Nominated and Elected President 

Rival Candidates — Groat Enthusiasm — Lincoln's Temperance Prin- 
ciples Exemplified — Other Nominations — A Great Campaign — 
Lincoln's Letter to David Turnham — Lincoln's Eleccion — 8 c< - 
sion — Lincoln Inaugurated — Douglas. 

Abraham Lincoln was nominated as the Republican 
candidate for President of the United States, at Chi- 
cago, Illinois, May 18, 1860. Salmon P. ( !hase, William 
H. Seward, Simon Cameron, William L. Dayton, and 
Edward Bates were the opposing candidates for the 
nomination. Mr. Lincoln was nominated on the third 
ballot. The nomination was afterward made unani- 
mous. The nomination was made amid great applause. 
It has been said that the scene baffled all human descrip- 
tion. Mr. Lincoln was the second Republican candidate 
for the Presidency, General John C. Fremont being the 
first, who was nominated in 1856. 

Mr. Lincoln was at his home in Springfield, Illinois, 
when he was nominated. His strong temperance prin- 
ciples were again exemplified when the committee form- 
ally notified him of his nomination. Some of his 
Springfield friends, knowing that he did not keep or 
use liquors, thought he would have nothing of the kind 
on hands to refresh the committee, and offered to fur- 
nish what was needed. Mr. Lincoln thanked them for 
their offer, and said, "Gentlemen, I cannot allow you 
to do what I will not do myself." 

After the committee had notified him of his nomina- 
tion, and he had responded, accepting the nomination, 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

lie said that, as an appropriate conclusion to an inter- 
view so important and interesting as that which had 
transpired, he supposed good manners would require 
that he should treat the committee with something to 
drink. Soon a servant entered bearing a large waiter 
containing several glasses, and a large pitcher in the 
midst, and placed it on the center-table. Mr. Lincoln 
arose and, gravely addressing the company, said : "Gen- 
tlemen, we must pledge our mutual healths in the most 
healthy beverage which God has given to man. It is 
the only beverage I have ever used or allowed in my 
family, and I cannot conscientiously depart from it on 
the present occasion — it is pure Adam's ale from the 
spring." And, taking a glass, he touched it to his lips, 
and pledged them his highest respects in a cup of cold 
water. 

The Democratic party was divided. The Northern 
Democrats nominated Stephen A. Douglas, Lincoln's 
old political rival. The Southern Democrats nominated 
John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky. A third party, 
called the "Union party," nominated John Bell, of 
Tennessee. The campaign that followed was a remark- 
able one. "The magic words, 'Old Abe' and 'Honest 
Old Abe,' were on thousands of banners." 

During the campaign, Mr. Lincoln wrote a letter to 
his old friend, David Turnham, the constable of Spencer 
€ounty, Indiana, from whom he borrowed the "Revised 
Statutes of Indiana," mentioned in Chapter III. This 
letter is now given to the general public for the first 
time : 

"Springfield, Ills., Oct. 23, 1860. 
"David Turnham, Esq., 

"My dear old Friend: Your kind letter of the 17th is 
received. I am indeed very glad to hear you are still liv- 

84 



Lincoln Nominated and Elected President 

iv.g and well. I well remember when you and I last met, 
after a separation of fourteen years, at the Cross Road 
voting place, in the fall of 1844. It is now sixteen years 
more, and we are both no longer young men. 

"I suppose you are a grandfather, and I, though married 
much later in life, have a son nearly grown. 

"I would much like to visit the old home, and old friends 
of my boyhood, but I fear the chance of doing so soon is 
not very good. 

"Your friend and sincere well-wisher, 

"A. Lincoln." 

The election was held on the sixth of November, 1860, 
and the result showed a popular vote for Lincoln of 
1,857,600; for Douglas, 1,365,976; for Breckenridge, 
84-7,953, and for Bell, 590,631. In the electoral college, 
Lincoln received 180 votes, Breckenridge, 72, Bell 39, 
and Douglas 12. 

Because of an election of a Xorthern man for Presi- 
dent, and fearing their "peculiar institution" was in 
danger, the Southern States began the organization of 
the Southern Confederacy, and when Mr. Lincoln was 
inaugurated, March 4, 1861, seven Southern States had 
passed ordinances of secession, followed later by four 
other States. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was 
chosen President of the Southern Confederacy. 

Mr. Lincoln's inaugural address was noted for its 
sentiments of good will and forbearance, yet he strongly 
indicated his purpose to maintain the Union. He stated 
that he had no purpose, directly or indirectly, to inter- 
fere with slavery where it then existed, and that the 
people of the South could have no war unless they 
became the aggressors. 

Stephen A. Douglas, Mr. Lincoln's old political rival, 
and who was also a presidential candidate at the time 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

of Mr. Lincoln's election, held Mr. Lincoln's hat while 
he read his inaugural address, and stated to those near 
him, "If I can't be President, I can hold his hat." 
James Part on, the historian, said of Mr. Douglas : "On 
the breaking out of the Rebellion, in 1861, Stephen A. 
Douglas gave his hand to President Lincoln and 
engaged to stand by him in his efforts to save the coun- 
try. But his days were numbered. During his 
herculean labors of the previous year he had sustained 
himself by deep draughts of whisky; and his constitu- 
tion gave way at the very time when a new and nobler 
career opened up before him." He died in Chicago, 
June 3, 1861, at the age of forty-eight years, and only 
three months after Mr. Lincoln^ inausriration. 



S<> 



CHAPTER XII. 
President Lincoln and the Civil War 

The Beginning — rersonal Recollections — The War Spirit — Progress 
of the War — The Emancipation Proclamation — A Fight to 

Finish — Lincoln's Kindness — He Relieves a Young Soldier — 
He Names Triplets Who Are Still Living — His Reelection — 
The Fall of Richmond — Appomatox — Close of the Rebellion. 

On the 12th of April, 1861, after Mr. Lincoln was 
inaugurated, the first outbreak of the Civil War was 
the bombardment of Fort Sumter on the part of the 
South. President Lincoln at once called for volunteers 
to suppress the rebellion. 

Although but a small boy at the time, I remember 
when the war began. It was the greatest civil war in 
human history, and will always be associated with 
Abraham Lincoln. I remember the excitement it pro- 
duced where I resided in southern Indiana and through- 
out the whole country. I recall the floating flag, the 
mournful sound of the drum, and the plaintive music 
of the fife when volunteers were enlisting for the defense 
of the nation. The neighbors talked war, the news- 
papers were filled with war news. The war spirit entered 
into the plays of the children. Elder fifes, old tin wash- 
boilers for drums, wooden guns and bayonets, and 
rudely-constructed flags were much in evidence in the 
mimic drilling and marching. How patriotically the 
little boys sang, as did some of their sires in the sunnv 
South: 

"The Union forever, hurrah! boys, hurrah! 
Down with the traitor, up with the stars, 
While we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again, 
Shouting the battle-cry of freedom!" 

ST 



Footprints of Abraham. Lincoln 

How the schoolboys played war in the autumn ! The 
forts were made of old fence rails and logs, and how 
they were bombarded with cannon-balls of green wal- 
nuts, and how the "rebels" were routed and some cap- 
tured ! In the winter-time how the snow-balls would 
fly as the two armies stood in battle array ! 

What a sad day it was when the news came that our 
"circuit rider/' a young minister, who had so often been 
in our home, and who had enlisted, was killed at Vicks- 
burg, Mississippi, in May, 1863. 

Early in 1865, I saw my name in print for the first 
time by writing a letter for publication in the Children's 
Friend, published at Dayton, Ohio, in which I made the 
statement, "I am a Union boy fourteen years old, and 
wish the war was over." 

After the war had continued a year and a half, with 
victories and defeats on both sides, the President, on 
the 22d of September, 1862, issued the provisional 
Emancipation Proclamation, which was to the effect 
that the South would be given from that time up to the 
first of January, 1863, to lay down their arms, keep 
their slaves, and find their proper places in the Union, 
otherwise a proclamation would be issued to set at lib- 
erty their slaves. The South did not accept the over- 
tures of President Lincoln, and the Emancipation 
Proclamation was issued. It was issued as a war meas- 
ure, upon military necessity, and on the condition that 
the traitor forfeits his property. After this the war, 
upon the part of the North, was not only to suppress 
the rebellion, but for the purpose of abolishing slavery, 
and the South fought not only to preserve the Confed- 
eracy, but for the institution of slavery itself. It was 

88 



President Lincoln and the Civil War 

now a fight to finish upon both sides, and to settle great 
principles and interests. 

Those were times that tried men's souls, but none 
were so tried as was the soul of him who stood at the 
helm and guided the ship of state in that stormy period 
of our country's history. 

Throughout the war Mr. Lincoln was very kind and 
forbearing in his dealings with all classes of men. Many 
a deserter owed his life to the pardoning power of Presi- 
dent Lincoln, one of whom I knew personally for many 
years. Besides his heavy duties as President, under 
such extraordinary circumstances, he went to extra 
trouble in relieving persons in many cases who came 
to him for help. George W. Wolf, an upright and influ- 
ential citizen, who resides near Georgetown, Floyd 
County, Indiana, was corporal of Company C, of the 
Eighty-first Indiana Regiment, in the Civil War, and 
afterward sergeant of the Seventh Veteran Eeserve 
Corps. At his home, November 26, 1904, he related to 
me the following incident, which came under his 
observation, showing the kind nature of President 
Lincoln : 

"A young soldier, about twenty years of age, belonging 
to an Illinois regiment, was taken sick on the field, and 
sent to a hospital. For some time after his partial recovery 
he was not able for field service, and was put in the First 
Battalion Reserve Corps, which was in camp in the rear of 
the President's mansion. He came to me one day and said: 
'Sergeant, what would you do if you had been sent from 
your company to a hospital, and then sent here, and could 
draw no money from the paymaster on account of not 
having a descriptive roll?' 

" 'I would send for it,' said I. 

" 'I have sent for it two or three times, but it never 
came,' said he. 

80 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

" 'Then I would go and see Uncle Abe,' said I. 

" 'What,' said he, 'a private soldier go up and see the 
President? Would he notice me?' 

" 'Yes,' I replied, 'and I will go with you.' 

"The next morning we secured a pass, and went to see 
the President. The young man was very nervous. After 
waiting a few minutes, we were admitted to the President's 
room. Mr. Lincoln, after dropping his feet from a table, 
said, 'Well, soldiers, what can I do for you?' 

"Before entering, I told the young man he must do his 
own talking, but I answered, 'This soldier wants to see 
you about getting pay for his service.' 

"Mr. Lincoln, after a short conversation, wrote the name 
of the soldier, his regiment, when he enlisted, that he had 
received but one payment, that he had tried more than 
once, and had failed. Then Mr. Lincoln said, 'I will see 
to it' 

"The next day, about noon, the young soldier was ordered 
to go to the paymaster and draw his money. He received 
all his pay, and a bounty beside, for he had been without 
pay for two years. After receiving his money he joyfully 
took off his cap, threw it up in the air, and exclaimed, 
'Boys, if they don't treat you right, go to Old Abe, and he 
will make it right.' " 

In the Farm and Fireside, published at Springfield. 
Ohio, of March 7, 1906, appeared an article written by 
J. L. Graff, concerning a set of triplets, yet living, who 
were named by President Lincoln. The family name is 
Haskins. The picture of the triplets appeared in con- 
nection with the article. The names given by Mr. Lin- 
coln were Simon Cameron, Secretary of War; Gideon 
Welles, Secretary of the Navy, and Abraham Lincoln, 
President of the United States. Recently I wrote a 
letter addressed to the triplets, in care of Abraham 
Lincoln Haskins, enclosing the article and their picture, 
asking for the verification of the facts stated and for 

90 



President Lincoln and lite Civil War 

other information. In due time I received the following 

letter : 

"Bababoo, Wisconsin, January 17, 1909. 
"Rev. J. T. Hobson, Beak Sir: — I received a letter from 
you asking if I was one of the Haskins triplets. Yes, sir; 
I am. We were born May 24, 1861, and named by Abraham 
Lincoln. We are all alive and well. I am sorry to say that 
I have no picture of us three, and never had them taken 
but once in our lives, and the one that I had I sent to Mr. 
J. L. Graff, of Chicago. One brother is here in Baraboo, 
the other is in Coleman, Michigan, whose name is Simon. 
That picture you sent is an exact picture of us. A Mr. 
Cole, editor of the Baraboo News, tried to find the letter 
that Mr. Lincoln wrote to my folks. All that he could find 
out was that it was in some museum in Washington. I 
wish we could get it, for I would highly prize it. We boys 
never saw it. He wrote to my father and asked him if it 
was true that he was the father of three boys of the same 
age. He wrote and told him it was so; then Mr. Lincoln 
wrote again, saying that he would be pleased to name us. 
Father wrote and told him that he would be pleased to 
have him name us. He said the first should be named 
Abraham Lincoln, the second Gideon Welles, and the third 
Simon Cameron. We were born in Starksboro, Addison 
County, Vermont. My mother's name, before she was mar- 
ried, was Louisa E. Grace, and if there ever was a Chris- 
tian she was the very best one. If there is anything more 
I can do for you I will be very glad to do so. I feel proud 
of my name, and try hard to honor it in every respect. 
"Yours, with respect, 

"Abraham Lincoln Haskins." 

I feel sure the reader will he pleased to see in this 
book the picture of the triplets, yet living, who were 
named by President Lincoln. 

Mr. Lincoln was reelected President of the United 
States, November 8, 1864, and entered upon his second 
term March 4, 1865. General George B. McClellan was 

91 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

the Democratic candidate. The London Spectator 
declared the second inaugural address of Mr. Lincoln 
to be the noblest political document known to history. 

In the meantime the war was being industriously 
prosecuted. Important victories, with some reverses, 
came to the North from time to time. The rebellion 
finally collapsed in the fall of Richmond, Virginia, 
April 3, and the surrender of General Lee to General 
Grant at Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865. 

Mr. Xichols, in his "Life of Abraham Lincoln/' says : 

"The spontaneous and universal rejoicings of the people 
iof the country at the complete overthrow of the rebellion 
were such as had never been witnessed before on any 
continent. Men laughed, cried, shouted, shook hands with 
each other; there were parades by day and at night. Amer- 
ica was illuminated by discharge of fireworks and thou- 
sands of torchlight processions. The war was over. Peace 
stretched her white wings over our beloved land." 



0*2 



CHAPTER XIII. 
Death of President Lincoln 

Fersonal Recollections — The Tragic Event — Mr. Stanton — A Nation 
in Sorrow — The Funeral— The Interment at Springfield, Illi- 
nois — The House in Which President Lincoln Died — Changed 
Conditions — The South Honors Lincoln — A United People — 
A Rich Inheritance. 

On the 15th of April, 1865, my father came hurriedly 
into the house with the exclamatory interrogation, 
addressed to mother, "Guess who 's dead !" Mother at 
once thought of her old father, and asked if it were he. 
Then came the startling news, "Lincoln is killed !" 
What a shock it was to our family, as it was to thou- 
sands of others. "We looked at the little two-year-old 
hoy of the household who bore the President's name, 
and, with childish superstition, wondered if he would 
suffer any disadvantages because of the murder of 
President Lincoln. 

On Friday evening, x\pril 14, the President was in 
attendance at Ford's Theater, on Tenth Street, in Wash- 
ington, D. C. The proceeds of the entertainment were 
to be given to a charity benefit, and it was widely adver- 
tised that the President and wife, with General Grant 
and others would be present. John Wilkes Booth, a 
fanatic and Southern sympathizer, shot the President 
in the head at 10: 15. He at once became unconscious, 
and never regained consciousness. He was carried 
across the street to a house, where he died the next 
morning at 7 : 23. Mrs. Lincoln, the son Eobert T., 
Private Secretary John Hay, several members of the 

93 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

cabinet^ surgeons, Rev. Dr. Gurley, Senator Charles 
Sumner, and others were present when the end came. 

No one, outside of the family, was so deeply moved 
at the striking down of the President as was Mr. Stan- 
ton. It will be remembered that Mr. Lincoln and Mr. 
Stanton first met in 1857, at the trial of the McCormick 
Reaper Patent case, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and that at the 
trial Stanton slighted Mr. Lincoln and made uncompli- 
mentary remarks about him. Four years later, Presi- 
dent Lincoln chose Mr. Stanton a member of his cabi- 
net, making him Secretary of War. Their relations 
were very close during the war period up to the time of 
Mr. Lincoln's death. 

F. B. Carpenter, in his book, "Six Months at the 
White House," says : 

"A few days before the President's death, Secretary 
Stanton tendered his resignation of the War Department. 
He accompanied the act with a heartfelt tribute to Mr. 
Lincoln's constant friendship and faithful devotion to the 
country, saying, also, that he, as secretary, had accepted 
the position to hold it only until the war should end, and 
that now he felt his work was done, and his duty was to 
resign. 

"Mr. Lincoln was greatly moved by the secretary's words, 
and, tearing in pieces the paper containing his resignation, 
and throwing his arms about the secretary, he said, 'Stan- 
ton, you have been a good friend and a faithful public 
servant, and it is not for you to say when you will no 
longer be needed here.' Several friends of both parties 
were present on the occasion, and there was not a dry eye 
that witnessed the scene." 

When Lincoln fell, Stanton was almost heart-broken, 
and as he knelt by his side was heard to say to himself : 
"Am I indeed left alone? None may now ever know or 
tell what we have suffered together in the nation's dark- 

94 



Death of President Lincoln 

est hours." When the surgeon-general said to him that 
there was no hope, he could not believe it, and passion- 
ately exclaimed, "No, no, general ; no, no !" 

When Lincoln expired, and just after prayer by 
Doctor Gurley, Stanton was the first to break the 
silence, saying, "Now he belongs to the agi -." 

At. the death of President Lincoln the nation was 
suddenly turned from demonstrations of great joy, on 
account of the closing of the war, to intense grief and 
unutterable horror. W. 0. Stoddard says, "It was as 
if there had been a death in every home throughout the 
land." J. H. Barrett says : 

"Never before was rejoicing turned into such sudden 
and overwhelming sorrow. A demon studying how most 
deeply to wound the greatest number of hearts, could have 
devised no act for his purpose like that which sent Abra- 
ham Lincoln to his grave. No man's less could have been 
so universally felt as that of a father, brother, friend. 
Many a fireside was made lonely by this bereavement. Sad- 
ness and despondency seized upon all. Men ceased busi- 
ness, and workmen returned home with their dinner buck- 
ets unopened. The merchants left their counting-rooms 
for the privacy cf their dwellings. A gloom, intensified by 
the transition from the pomp and rejoicing of the day 
before, settled impenetrably on every mind. Bells sadly 
tolled in all parts of the land. Mourning drapery was 
quickly seen from house to house on every square of the 
national capital; and all the chief places of the country 
witnessed, by spontaneous demonstration, their participa- 
tion in the general sorrow. In every loyal pulpit, and at 
every true altar throughout the nation, the great public 
grief was the theme of earnest prayer and discourse on 
the day following. One needs not to dwell on what no pen 
can describe, and on what no adult living on that day can 
ever forget." 

95 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

Funeral services were conducted in the East Room 
of the White House on Wednesday, April 19, by Doctor 
Gurley, of the Presbyterian Church. Andrew Johnson, 
the successor of President Lincoln, by proclamation, 
recommended that memorial services be held that day 
throughout the United States. I kept my first diary 
that year, and made the following entry for that day : 

"Abraham Lincoln's funeral preached; order to hold 
meeting at every church in the U. S. Heard David Swartz 
preach in Clear Spring. 2 Samuel, 3 chapter, 38 verse. 
The minister was a Methodist, and the words of the text 
were, 'Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man 
fallen this day in Israel?' " 

The remains of President Lincoln were taken to his 
old home, Springfield, Illinois, for interment. An 
address was there delivered by Mr. Lincoln's highly- 
esteemed friend, Bishop Simpson, of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. A large monument, appropriate to 
the memory of him who "bound the nation and unbound 
the slave," marks the place where his body lies in Oak 
Eidge Cemetery. 

The three-story brick building in which President 
Lincoln died in Washington City is still standing. The 
lower story is used by Mr. 0. H. Oldroyd, containing 
the Oldroyd Lincoln Memorial Collection, consisting of 
more than three thousand articles pertaining to the mar- 
tyred President. I visited this house, May 23, 1901. 
In some pictures of the house in which Lincoln died 
there is a flag floating from a window in the second 
story, and in others the third story, with the statement 
that the flag indicates the room in which President 
Lincoln died. Neither is correct. He died in a small 
room on the first floor, in the rear part of the building. 

96 



■r" x c 




--—_- — 





**3 







Death of President Lincoln 

It is now nearly forty-four years since Abraham 
Lincoln died. There have been great changes in our 
country during that time. The South now vindicates 
Lincoln, and realizes that he was their friend. Peace 
and good will now prevail between the North and the 
South, cemented by the blood of Lincoln. 

Joseph H. Bradley, chaplain National Soldiers' Home 
of Virginia, in a communication to the Ram's Horn, 
quotes from a letter written by General William G. 
Webb, a Christian ex-Confederate: 

"Abraham Lincoln was a great and good man, and was 
raised up by God to preserve this nation as one and indi- 
visible, and to give freedom to the slaves. As a Confed- 
erate, I could not see it; and after our defeat it took me 
some time to grasp it; but it became very plain to me after 
a while. God has a great work for this nation to do, and 
Mr. Lincoln was, like Washington, one of his instruments 
to prepare the people for this mission which the United 
States is to accomplish toward the enlightenment, freedom, 
and Christianization of the world." 

I heard a lecture on Abraham Lincoln at Corydon, 
Indiana, March 17, 1899, by Henry Watterson, the 
talented editor of the Louisville Courier- Journal and 
and ex-Confederate, in which he said, "If Lincoln was 
not inspired of God, then there is no such thing on earth 
as special providence or the interposition of divine power 
in the affairs of men." 

In 1903, the State of Mississippi, the second State to 
pass an ordinance of secession, and the home of Jeffer- 
son Davis, President of the Southern Confederacy, 
requested Honorable Robert T. Lincoln to furnish a 
picture of his father to hang in the new capitol building 
at Jackson. The request was as follows : 

97 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

"We of the South now realize the greatness and the good- 
ness of the character of Abraham Lincoln, and would honor 
his memory. Nothing that we could do would add to his 
fame. We can, however, show our respect and love for 
him. Permit me, therefore, in the name of the State, to 
invite you to place a portrait of President Lincoln in the 
new capitol of Mississippi; that it may symbolize his love 
for his country, his devotion to duty, and his heartfelt 
sympathy for the Southern people." 

Abraham Lincoln loved the South. He was Southern 
born. At his last cabinet meeting, on the date of his 
death, he advised that forbearance, clemency, and char- 
ity should be the controlling principles in dealing with 
difficult problems awaiting practical solution. 

What a rich inheritance we have in the example and 
deeds, the pen and voice of Abraham Lincoln. What 
an inspiration his noble life should be to struggling 
young men who trace the footsteps in his eventful his- 
tory, and learn the motives that prompted him in all his 
actions. 

Not long since I received a communication from a 
stranger, a poor orphan boy in far-away Turkey. He 
lives in Konia, the ancient Iconium, mentioned in the 
New Testament. He says : "I have read in some books 
about Lincoln. I love and admire him as one of the 
greatest men that ever have been lived on earth." His 
appeal for an opportunity to know more about Lincoln 
was pathetic. 

Many years ago a young man said : 

"I was only a child when Abraham Lincoln died, but I 
cannot think of his death without feeling the same pain 
I would feel if it had been my father. I never saw him, 
and yet it seems that I knew him and loved him person- 
ally. I am sure I am a better man because Lincoln lived. 
His straightforward, simple, truthful life puts all meaner 
lives to shame." 

98 



Death of President Lincoln 

0. H. Oldroyd, editor of the "Lincoln Memorial 
Album," says: 

"His fame is world-wide and stands in history more 
lasting than a monument of brass. His words will con- 
tinue to sound through the ages as long as the flowers shall 
blocm or the waters flow." 

Another writer says : 

"We hear Lincoln's words in every schoolhouse and col- 
lege, in every cabin, and at every public meeting. We read 
them in every newspaper, school-book, and magazine, and 
they are all in favor of right, liberty, and truth, and of 
honesty and reverence for God. His words, some of them 
as familiar as the Bible, are on the tongues of the people, 
shaping the national character." 

Bishop Newman said: 

"There is no name more deserving of imperishable fame 
than Abraham Lincoln. He is embalmed in song, recorded 
in history, eulogized in panegyric, cast in bronze, sculptured 
in marble, painted on canvas, enshrined in the hearts of 
his countrymen, and lives in the memories of mankind." 



09 



CHAPTER XIV. 
Unpublished Official Documents 

A Discovery — Documents of Historic Value — Lincoln Owned Land 
in Iowa — Copy of Letters Patent from United States, under 
James Buchanan, to Abraham Lincoln, in 1860 — Copy of Deed 
Executed by Honorable Robert T. Lincoln and Wife in 1892 — 
Other Transfers — The Present Owner. 

A few months ago I learned through a newspaper 
that Abraham Lincoln, at the time of his death, owned 
land in the State of Iowa., by virtue of his having served 
in the Black H,awk War of 1832. He was given a land 
script, good for one hundred and twenty acres, which 
he located in what is now Crawford County, Iowa. 
Having never heard of this before, I went to Denison, 
the county-seat, and, through the law and abstract office 
of Shaw, Sims & Kuehnle, obtained the information 
where the records could be found in the county record- 
er's office. The above-named Shaw is the Honorable 
Leslie M. Shaw, ex-Governor of Iowa and ex-Secre- 
tary of the United States Treasury under President 
Roosevelt. 

Through the kindness of the county recorder, W. E. 
Terry, I was allowed to copy the records in the case. 
Probably Abraham Lincoln never saw the land, but 
because of their historical value the records are here 
given. The first is the letters-patent from the United 
States to Abraham Lincoln. Record D, page 18. Orig- 
inal Entry, page 125. 

100 



Unpublished Official Documents 

"The United States of America. 
"To All Whom These Presents Shall Come, Greeting: 

"Whereas, In pursuance of the Act of Congress, approved 
March 3, 1855, entitled An Act, in addition to certain Acts, 
Granting Bounty Land to certain officers and soldiers who 
have been engaged in the military service of the United 
States, There has been deposited in the General Land Office, 
Warrant No. 68645, for 120 acres of land in favor of Abra- 
ham Lincoln, Captain Illinois Militia, Black Hawk War, 
with evidence that the same has been duly located upon the 
east half of the northeast quarter, and northwest quarter 
of the northeast quarter of section eighteen, in Township 
eighty-four, north of Range thirty-nine west, in the district 
of Lands subject to sale at Council Bluffs, Iowa, containing 
one hundred and twenty acres, according to the official plat 
of the survey of the said land returned to the General Land 
Office by the Surveyor General, the said tract having been 
located by the said Abraham Lincoln. 

"Know ye, That there is, therefore, granted by the United 
States unto the said Abraham Lincoln, heirs, and assigns 
forever. 

"In Testimony, whereof, I, James Buchanan, President of 
the United States of America, have caused these Letters to 
be made Patent, and the seal of the General Land Office to 
be hereto affixed. 
"[Seal.] 

"Given under my hand, at the City of Washington, the 
tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord One Thou- 
sand Eight Hundred and Sixty, and of the Independence of 
the United States the Eighty-fifth. 

"By the President: James Buchanan. 

"By J. B. Leonard, Sec. 

"G. W. Granger, Recorder of the General Land Office. 

"Recorded vol. 468, page 53." 

The following copy of the warranty deed from Eobert 
T. Lincoln and wife to Henry Edwards is recorded in 
Deed Eecord 13, page 208. Eobert T. Lincoln at this 
time was minister from the United States to Great 

101 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

Britain, under President Benjamin Harrison's admin- 
istration : 

"Warranty Deed. 

"Filed April 26, A. D. 1892, at 2: 10 p.m., W. W. Cushman, 
Recorder. 
"Know All Men by These Presents: 

"That we, Robert T. Lincoln and Mary H. Lincoln, his 
wife, of Cook County, and State of Illinois, in considera- 
tion of the sum of Thirteen Hundred Dollars ($1,300) to 
us in hand paid by Henry Edwards, of Crawford County, 
and State of Iowa, do hereby sell and convey unto the said 
Henry Edwards the following described premises, situated 
in the County of Crawford, and State of Iowa, to-wit: 

"The east half of the northeast quarter, and the north- 
west quarter of the northeast quarter of section eighteen 
(18) in Township eighty-four (84), north of Range thirty- 
nine (39), west of the Principal Meridian. 

"And we covenant with the said Henry Edwards that we 
hold said premises by good and perfect title, that we have 
good right and lawful authority to sell and convey the 
same, that they are free and clear of all liens and all 
encumbrances, whatsoever, excepting the taxes levied, or 
to be levied, for the year 1892, and excepting also a lease 
of said land expiring on or about the fourth day of May, 
A. D. 1894, and. we covenant to warrant and defend the title 
to said premises against the lawful claims of all persons, 
whomsoever, excepting as against the said taxes, and the 
said lease, the obligation and discharge of both of which 
are hereby assumed by the said Henry Edwards. 

"The said Robert T. Lincoln hereby declares that his 
title to said land is wholly by descent, and derived as 
follows, namely: 

"That Abraham Lincoln, the patentee of said land, died 
on the 15th day of April, 1865, intestate, leaving heirs sur- 
viving, his widow, Mary Lincoln, and his two sons, Robert T. 
Lincoln and Thomas Lincoln, and no other heirs; that said 
Thomas Lincoln died on the 15th day of July, A. D. 1871, 
in the nineteenth year of his age, intestate, and unmarried, 
leaving him surviving as his only heirs his mother, said 

102 



Unpublished Official Documents 

Mary Lincoln, and his brother, said Robert T. Lincoln; 
that said Mary Lincoln died on the 16th day of July, A. D. 
1882, intestate, and a widow, leaving her surviving as her 
sole heir, said Robert T. Lincoln; and that the estate of 
said Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Lincoln, and Mary Lincoln 
were successively duly administered according to law in the 
county court of Sangamon County, in the State of Illinois, 
and that all claims against them were duly paid and 
discharged. 

"Signed the twenty-second day of March, A. D. 1892. 

"Robert T. Lincoln. 

"Mary H. Lincoln. 

"United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 

"Legation of the United States of America at London on 
this 22d day of March, A. D. 1892, before me Larz Anderson, 
a secretary of the Legation of the United States of America 
at London, aforesaid, came Robert T. Lincoln and Mary H. 
Lincoln, his wife, personally to me known to be the iden- 
tical persons whose names are affixed to the above instru- 
ment as grantors thereof, and acknowledged the execution 
of the same to be their voluntary act and deed for the 
purpose therein expressed. 

"Witness my hand and the seal of said Legation the day 
and year last above written. 

"The Legation of the United States of America to Great 
Britain. Larz Anderson, 

"Secretary of Legation." 

On the 20th of April, 1892, the above-named Henry 
Edwards sold the land to Enoch T. Cochran, considera- 
tion $1,500. Eecorded May 2, 1892, Deed Book 12, 
page 624. 

On the 20th of October, 1892, Enoch T. Cochran sold 
the land to the present owner, Peter F. Jepsen, consid- 
eration $1,925. Eecorded October 24, 1892, Deed Book 
15, page 135. 

I copied the foregoing records in the recorder's office, 
in Dennison, Crawford County, Iowa, in the afternoon 

103 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

of May 22, 1908. Mr. Jepsen, the present owner of the 
land, is a retired German fanner and resides in Deni- 
son. I called at his home after I had copied the rec- 
ords. He came to the United States in 1867, and is 
prond of the fact that he is the owner of the land that 
Abraham Lincoln owned. The land joins another farm 
which Mr. Jepsen owns, where he formerly resided, in 
Goodrich Township, about seven miles northwest of 
Denison. The present veteran county surveyor, Moses 
Henry, told me that he surveyed the land Lincoln 
owned, and that it is now valued at one hundred dollars 
per acre. 



104 




HOUSE IN WHICH LINCOLN DIED 




LINCOLN'S MILL 



CHAPTER XV. 

Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of 
Lincoln's Birth 

Preparations — General Observance — President Roosevelt Lays Cor- 
nerstone of Lincoln Museum at Lincoln's Birthplace — Extracts 
from Addresses at Various Places — Closing Tribute. 

Never, perhaps, in the history of mankind lias such 
general recognition been given to the anniversary of 
any man's birth as Avas given to the one hundredth 
anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth on Friday, 
February 12, 1909. For weeks in advance the news- 
papers, both religious and secular, and the magazrrn a 
were decorated with his pictures, and other pictures 
illustrating many scenes in his life. The recollections 
of personal friends and acquaintances, war incidents, 
stories, anecdotes, and his personal traits were placed 
on record, with various announcements and programs 
for the coming anniversary, showed the great interest 
attached to his name and his history. 

The day was made a national holiday by Congress 
and the proclamation of the President, supplemented by 
legislatures and governors of many States. The event 
was celebrated, almost without exception, by all the 
common schools, colleges, and universities throughout 
the nation. Churches, Grand Army posts, Young Men's 
Christian Associations, the various temperance organi- 
zations, clubs, trades unions, and almost every form of 
organized bodies celebrated the day. Courts and legis- 
latures adjourned and joined in the general anniversary 

105 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

exercises, or held separate exercises. The wheels of the 
general Government at Washington, D. C, stopped to 
recognize the great memorial day. Business in many 
places was practically suspended in honor of the day. 
In every community, town, and city the praises of 
Lincoln were heard. 

Orations delivered by great and undistinguished men 
and women, pertaining to many phases of Lincoln's 
life and character, were given. Prayers, religious and 
patriotic songs were heard. Pictures, flowers, flags, 
parades, and banquets were greatly in evidence. The 
Gettysburg address, the Emancipation Proclamation, 
the second inaugural address, Lincoln's favorite poem, 
"Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?" with 
many other selections, were recited and read. 

The Southern people, as well as the Northern, joined 
in the general exercises of the day. The colored people 
were enthusiastic in showing their appreciation of what 
Mr. Lincoln had done for their race. In many cities 
in foreign countries, including London, Berlin, Hono- 
lulu, and Rome, the anniversary was observed. 

The center of attraction was the celebration at Lin- 
coln's birthplace, on the farm three miles from Hodgen- 
ville, Larue County, Kentucky. A large tent had been 
erected for the occasion, with a platform inside for the 
speakers. In front of the platform was placed a rebuilt 
little cabin, sixteen feet square, which had itinerated in 
many parts of the country and exhibited as the cabin 
in which Abraham Lincoln was born. The little cabin, 
set in flowers contributed by the school children of 
Kentucky, and decorated with the national colors, very 
fitly illustrated the kind of a cabin in which the great 
emancipator was born. When Lincoln was born in a 

106 



Centennial Anniversary of Lincoln's Birth 

log cabin on that spot, no one could imagine that a 
future President was born there, and that a hundred 
years later another President would stand on the Bame 
spot to assist in celebrating his birth. 

Five extra trains came from Louisville to Hodg< n- 
ville, bearing persons from various points in the roiled 
States. These were conveyed by carriages to the pi 
of celebration. The day there was rainy, but the foreign 
and local attendance was estimated at eight thousand. 
Among the distinguished persons present were President 
Roosevelt, Mrs. Roosevelt, and daughter, Miss Ethel; 
Mr. Loeb, the President's private secretary; Ex-Gover- 
nor Joseph Folk, of Missouri, president of the Lincoln 
Farm Association; Governor A. E. Willson, of Ken- 
tucky: General James G. Wilson, and Luke E. Wright, 
Secretary of War. 

There were various committees, guards and police. 
Good order prevailed. All lines of the Xorth and the 
South were blotted out in representation, men of both 
sections taking part in the exercises. Twenty-six negro 
citizens, appointed by Governor Willson, as a reception 
committee, represented their race. 

After prayer, Ex-Governor Folk, of Missouri, presi- 
dent of the Lincoln Farm Association, said, in part : 

"Here, on this farm, one hundred years ago to-day, was 
horn the strongest, strangest, gentlest character the repub- 
lic has ever known. His work was destined to have a more 
far-reaching influence than any that went before him. 
Until recently this spct which should be hallowed by every 
American, was unnoticed and abandoned. Inspired by the 
idea that due regard for the apostle of human liberty who 
sprang from this soil demanded the preservation of his 
birthplace, a few patriotic men organized the Lincoln Farm 
Association, to purchase this property and to erect upon it 

107 



Footprints of Abrah am Lincoln 

a memorial to that simple, but sublime life that here came 
into the world. This association is purely patriotic in its 
purposes, and the movement has met with a ready response 
from every section of the nation. In revering the name of 
Lincoln, there is now no North or South, or East or 
"West. There is but one heart in all, and that the heart of 
patriotic America. So the memorial to be erected here, by 
South as well as North, will not only be in memory of 
Lincoln, but it will be a testimony that the fires of hatred 
kindled by the fierce civil conflict of nearly half a century 
ago, are dead, and from the ashes has arisen the red rose 
of patriotism to a common country and loyalty to a common 
flag." 

President Roosevelt, in behalf of the nation, said, in 
part: 

"He lived in days that were great and terrible, when 
brother fought against brother for what each sincerely 
deemed to be the right. In a contest so grim the strong 
men who alone can carry it through are rarely able to do 
justice to the deep convictions of those with whom they 
grapple in mortal strife. At such times men see through 
a glass darkly; to only the rarest and loftiest spirits is 
vouchsafed that clear vision which gradually comes to all, 
even to the lesser, as the struggle fades into distance, and 
wounds are forgotten, and peace creeps back to the hearts 
that were hurt. But to Lincoln was given this supreme 
vision. He did not hate the man from whom he differed. 
Weakness was as foreign as wickedness to his strong, gentle 
nature; but his courage was of a quality so high that it 
needed no bolstering of dark passion. He saw clearly that 
the same high qualities, the same courage and willingness 
for self-sacrifice, and devotion to the right as it was given 
them to see the right, belonged both to the men of the 
North and to the men of the South. As the years roll by, 
and as all of us, wherever we dwell, grow to feel an equal 
pride in the valor and self-devotion alike of the men who 
wore the blue and the men who wore the gray, so this 
whole nation will grow to feel a peculiar sense of pride in 
the man whose blood was shed for the union of his people, 

108 



Centennial Anniversary of Lincoln's Birth 

and for the freedom of a race. The lover of his country 
and of all mankind; the mightiest of the mighty men who 
mastered the mighty days, Abraham Lincoln." 

Governor AVillson, in behalf of Kentucky, for her 
greatest son, said, in part: 

"We have met here on this farm where he was born, in 
memory cf Abraham Lincoln, to know for ourselves and to 
prove to the world, by a record made to endure, and deep 
graven on these acres, that the love of country and of its 
nobly useful citizens are not dreams, nor idle words, but 
indeed living, stirring, and breathing feelings. Abraham 
Lincoln is claimed by all humanity and all time as the type 
of the race best showing forth the best in all men in all 
conditions of life. 

"Here are met to-day, with equal zeal to do him honor, 
soldiers of the war for and against the Union, heroes of the 
Union and the Confederacy, Americans all, no one less 
pledged than the other, not only by the bond of the cove- 
nant of our law, but alike by the dearest feelings of his 
heart and fervor of his blood, to our united country and its 
beautiful flag." 

General James G. Wilson, of Xew York, who was in 
the Union Army, spoke fitting words in behalf of the 
Union, while General Luke E. Wright, who was in the 
Confederate Army, now Secretary of War, spoke fitting 
words in behalf of the Confederacy. 

President Roosevelt laid the corner-stone of the Lin- 
coln Museum, which is to be built of limestone and 
white marble. He spread white cement with a silver 
trowel where the stone was to set. The stone, weigbing 
three thousand pounds, was placed in position with a 
derrick. A number of articles w r ere deposited in a leaden 
box placed in the stone before it was set, among which 
was the life of Lincoln written by President Roosevelt 
and the speeches delivered on the occasion. 

109 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

In connection with the depository of articles, an aged 
negro, Isaac T. Montgomery, of Mississippi, said to 
have been at one time a slave of Jefferson Davis, Presi- 
dent of the Southern Confederacy, was assigned the 
appropriate honor of depositing in the box a copy of 
President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. In 
doing this he made a brief speech, in which he referred 
to himself "as one of the former millions of slaves to 
whom Lincoln gave freedom, and the representative of 
10,000,000 grateful negro citizens." 

The cabin in which it is alleged Abraham Lincoln 
was born will be kept in the memorial building. It is 
expected that the building will be dedicated in April, 
by William H. Taft, who will be inaugurated President 
of the United States, March 4, 1909. 

The spot where Abraham Lincoln was born will, for 
coming ages, be the most sacred shrine in all this great 
country, whose government he died to save. 

At Lincoln City, Spencer County, Indiana, where the 
Lincolns lived fourteen years after moving from Ken- 
tucky, and before moving to Illinois, and where Abra- 
ham's mother lies buried, exercises were held. The 
school children of Evansville, Indiana, raised money to 
purchase a flag, and the school children of Indianapolis 
sent a wreath of flowers, both of which were placed on 
Mrs. Lincoln's grave. A procession of one hundred 
school children of Lincoln City, headed by Principal 
Curtis Cox and the other teachers, inarched to the grave, 
where the exercises were held. 

At Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln's old home, and 
where his body rests in the great monument erected to 
his memory, imposing exercises were held in various 
places well worthy of the man. Mr. Lincoln was instru- 

110 



Centennial Anniversary of TAncoln's Birth 

mental in having the State capital moved from Vandalia 
to Springfield. Ambassador Jusserand of France, Sena- 
tor Dolliver of Iowa, Ambassador Bryce of England, 
and William J. Bryan were among the distinguished 
visitors, and who delivered addresses. A most impi 
ive feature of the occasion was the scene at Lincoln's 
tomb, when Eobert T. Lincoln, son of the martyred 
President, stood beside the sarcophagus in which the 
body of his great father rests. Here his mother, broth- 
ers, and a son named Abraham Lincoln are also en- 
tombed. He stood in silent meditation with tear- 
dimmed eyes, with Ambassadors Jusserand, Bryce, 
Senator Dolliver, W. J. Bryan, and many other distin- 
guished persons gathered about. In his speech, Ambas- 
sador Bryce said, in part: 

"Of the personal impression he made on those who knew 
him, you will hear from some of the few yet living who 
can recollect him. All I can contribute is a reminiscence 
of what reached us in England. I was an undergraduate 
student in the University of Oxford when the Civil War 
broke out. Well do I remember the surprise when the 
Republican National Convention nominated him as a candi- 
date for the presidency, for it had been expected that the 
choice would fall upon William H. Seward. I recollect 
hew it slowly dawned upon Europeans in 1862 and 1863 
that the President could be no ordinary man, because he 
never seemed cast down by the reverses which befell his 
arms, because he never let himself be hurried into premature 
action, nor feared to take so bold a step as the Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation was when he saw that the time had 
arrived. And, above all, I remember the shock of awe and 
grief which thrilled all Britain when the news came that 
he had perished by the bullet of an assassin. . . . 

"To you, men of Ilinois, Lincoln is the most famous and 
worthy of all those who have adorned your commonwealth. 
To you, citizens of the United States, he is the President 

111 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

who carried you through a terrible conflict and saved the 
Union. To us in England he is one of the heroes of the 
race whence you and we sprung. We honor his memory 
as you do; and it is fitting that one who is privileged here 
to represent the land from which his forefathers came 
should bring on behalf of England a tribute of admiration 
for him and of thankfulness to the Providence which gave 
him to you in your hour of need. 

"Great men are the noblest possession of a nation, and 
are potent forces in the molding of national character. 
Their influence lives after them, and if they be good as 
well as great, they remain as beacons lighting the course 
of all who follow them. They set for succeeding genera- 
tions the standards of public life. They stir the spirit and 
rouse the energy of the youth who seek to emulate their 
virtues in the service of the country." 

At Washington City all Government and leading 
business houses were closed. The Senate adjourned 
until Monday, but in the House, Lincoln's famous 
Gettysburg speech was read by Representative Boutell, 
of Illinois. Appropriate exercises were held at Howard 
University, where a large negro student body witnessed 
the unveiling of a large painting of the "Underground 
Railroad.' 7 Secretary of the Interior Garfield and other 
speakers were on the program. 

In Boston, the city sometimes called the literary "hub 
of the universe," Senator Lodge gave an address on the 
life and work of Mr. Lincoln before the Massachusetts 
Legislature. At a meeting held in the evening in Sym- 
phony Hall, John D. Long, former Secretary of the 
Navy, gave an address, and Julia Ward Howe, author 
of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic/' read a poem she 
had written for the occasion, depicting Lincoln's rise 
from obscurity to the leader of the nation. 

112 



Centennial Anniversary of Lincoln's Birth 

In Chicago, the metropolis of Lincoln's adopted State, 
fifty public meetings were held in his honor. The city 
was fairly buried beneath flags, buntings, and pictures 
of Lincoln. Show-windows were filled with war relics 
and Lincoln mementoes. Streets wore crowded with 
marchers and military bands. Standing bareheaded in 
Lincoln Park, in sight of the Lincoln Statue, a group 
of Civil War veterans fired a presidential salute. Dexter 
Pavilion, at night, was crowded, while a chorus of one 
thousand voices sang patriotic songs. 

At Gettysburg, where Lincoln delivered his classic 
address dedicating the national cemetery, November 19, 
1863, the day was duly observed. The principal exor- 
cises were held on the campus of Gettysburg College, 
near Seminary Eidge, where much of the first and 
second days' fighting occurred during the great battle. 
Lincoln's Gettysburg address was read by Judge Samuel 
McSwope. 

At Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Vice-President Fair- 
banks said, in part : 

"Who, among all the men of his day, has produced utter- 
ances so classic and lofty and which will survive so locg 
as many of the speeches of Mr. Lincoln? It is impossible 
to think that schools, colleges, or universities could have 
increased the intellectual or moral nature of Lincoln. He 
was the marvelous product of the great schcol of nature. 
He kept close to nature's heart, close to the people, close to 
the soul. . . . His life was spent in the field of conflict. 
In his youth he struggled with nature. At the bar he con- 
tended for the rights of his clients. In the wider field cf 
politics he fought with uncommon power to overthrow the 
wrong and enthrone the right. He fought not for the love 
of contest, but for the love of truth. By nature he was a 
man of peace. He did not like to raise his hand against 
his fellow-man. He instinctively loved justice, right, and 

113 



Footprints of Abraham Lincoln 

liberty. His soul revolted at the thought of injustice and 
wrong. His conscience impelled him to uphold the right 
wherever it was denied his fellow-man. He could not do 
otherwise." 

In New York City the celebration was the most hearty 
and widespread of its kind ever seen there. The city's 
official celebration was held in Cooper Union, in the hall 
in which Lincoln made his great speech called the 
"Cooper Union Speech/' delivered in 18 GO. Addresses 
were delivered by Joseph H. Choate and Rev. Dr. Lyman 
Abbott. At a great club meeting, Booker T. Washington 
delivered an address, and referred to himself as "one 
whom Lincoln found a piece of property and made into 
an American citizen." 

In closing this little volume as an humble tribute to 
the memory of Abraham Lincoln, I desire to say that, 
while Mr. Lincoln possessed so many excellent traits of 
character, the most significant and worthy one was his 
constant anxiety, as he expressed it, to know and do 
the will of God. This, in the providence of God, is 
what made him truly great. 



114 



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